Kingdom Hearts: The Eternal Beyond
by Gilamonsterx
Summary: This is my sequel to my original fic, KH LOTWK. New adventures, new enemies, new worlds yet to be discovered, but one thing remains the same. The fight is never over. Warning: Many crossovers are likely to occur so keep that in mind.
1. Prologue

_Kingdom Hearts: The Eternal Beyond_

_Prologue_

As Sora awoke from his dream, he scratched his head as his mother slowly opened the door. She looked very young being about no older than forty five, wore a classic mother's apron, wore a yellow silky dress, and her hair was tied on her sides give her square shaped bangs, was very thin for a housewife and her eyes were as blue as a calm day at the beach. There was clothes everywhere on his brown dresser, his nearly sleep destroyed bed, and even on the floor near his closet as well as the door way. Sora smiled sarcastically and His mom put her hand pressured on her nose tightly and said, "Phew. Does it ever stink in here. When's the last time you put your clothes in the laundry Sora?" Sora then complained, "Mom!! Don't you know how to knock?" Sora's mom then replied, "Don't give me that tone of voice young man. You just ran off again. You ran off without saying a word the first time and I thought things would return to normal, but…" Sora's mom started to break on the verge of tears and then Sora went and gave her the biggest tightest hug he could. Sora then said, "It's okay mom. I'm leaving anytime soon." Then there was a knock on the front door. Sora's mom then asked, "Now I wonder who that could be?" As Sora's mom as well as Sora himself went downstairs and opened the door, they saw two boys standing on their front porch.

The one on the left was extremely thin and tall being five foot nine, his hair was trimmed to perfection on the sides and was black coloured brown, had brown eyes, with a few freckles on his face (max. being three) wore a dark black shirt as a good pair of jeans. He also wore a flashy pair of "Johnny Bravo" shades as well to make him seem like C.S.I. On his back he carried a black gun with a case of ammo on his left pant leg as well. He looked to be in his early twenties possibly twenty flat at least. The boy next to him was much younger, looking to be in his early teens to preteen, was much smaller than him barely surpassing five feet, had strawberry brown short hair, brown eyes, and wore a pair of jeans as well more fitted to his small physique. He also had a pair of gloves and a red hat in his left and right pant legs. Sora's mom then gave a smile and asked, "How can I help you fine boys this morning?" The tall boy then said, "There's no need to fear ma'am. My brother and I are professionals!!" while showing his wallet and opened up to a section reading: Michael Nazarevich. Official Intergalactic Protector, MVC. The rest of the information was about himself.

Michael then continued, "We need to talk to Sora." Sora's mom then asked, "Sora? Is this about him going off on another one of those dangerous adventures of the sort?" She then looked to stare at Sora who was slowly heading up the stairs quietly, but was grabbed by his mother's ear down the stairs once more. Sora's mom then yelled, "Because if it is, I know a certain someone who isn't getting chocolate ice cream for dessert tonight." Sora then complained again while putting up with his ear getting tugged, "Aw mom!! Not in front the guys please?" Michael then said, "It's nothing of the sort ma'am. It's just on his last adventure he helped out my other brother Victor distract a felon we call by the name of Darkness. When we detected him here, Victor took the case and followed him. In fact, Sora going on this journey actually saved Destiny Island twice." Sora's mom said, "Really?" Michael nodded and then continued, "That is why we must take Sora with us for a while. This is very serious." Sora's mom then got on the verge of tears as she then hugged Sora with all of her might. "No no no. I won't lose my baby boy again!!" Sora then complained again, "Aw mom. I'm not a kid. I'm just like any other boy on this island you know? Besides I want to go. Please?" Sora's mom looked at the other two boys at the door and back at her own son and then hugged Sora tightly and said, "Oh alright. Just be careful. I don't want to lose you." Michael then said, "Believe me when I say this ma'am. As head of the MVC and being the most powerful man in the universe, it is my duty to ensure that the law is followed and enforced. Thus it is now my duty to protect your son from harm as well." Sora then went outside and Michael then said, "I promise you we'll bring him as soon as we can. That I can guarantee."

As Sora's mom nodded, Michael, Sora, and the little boy next to Michael huddled together and then Michael rolled up his left sleeve and looked at a black watch he had on. It had many different buttons on it that made it so high tech, even the men in black would wish they had one. He pressed a button on the top left hand corner, then one at the centre and finally one in the top right hand corner and soon all three of the boys departed Destiny Island. Sora's mom thought to herself, 'Be careful Sora.'

Meanwhile, in a distant part of the universe, inside a high tech. base eight dark figures sat around a dark large round table and then started discussing issues about the MVC and the universe at random. One of the men said dastardly, "We must strike them now, before they get a chance to retaliate." The one to his right bopped him on the head and replied, "If we followed anything you said, we would've lost ages ago." The one across from the two bickering sneered, "You ruffians are as foolish as those boys themselves let alone the Master Chief." Then a dark figure at the centre of the group of eight raised his hand. He sat in the largest seat of the table and turned around swiftly.

He then replied briefly, "Boys, boys, boys. Must we always go through this every time we have a meeting? How hard is it to just talk things through?" They all stood silently and the dark figure at the centre continued, "Don't even answer that. We're playing by my rules now. That means whether you like it or not, we're going to do as I say right now. Any questions?" Again there was more silence, but it lasted longer this time. "Good. Now then first things first. We get the MVC back together and then we can initiate Operation: Thunder Dragon." As the group clapped in honour of their leader, he thought to himself, 'Now's the time. Soon the MVC will get a load of my power. It'll be like none other the likes they have faced before!!" As he thought this he cracked open a can of coke and drank every last drop of the stuff until it was completely empty.


	2. Chapter 1

**The MVC United**

As Victor awoke inside his own mind, the Inner Realm, he put his hand to his head and groaned. He thought, 'Oh my aching head!! That was some attack Darkness laid on me. I wonder how I came back to life.' Victor stood on his feet and noticed his jeans and shirt started to glow and turn into a tuxedo. He looked around sensing a great and powerful presence. "That was quite the tumble you had there boy!!" Victor turned around noticing a hominoid like insect. He was dressed in a black robe of clothing, He had a dark purple cloak on top of it, wielded a longsword and his hair was white and at the back of it was closed up by a bow making him resemble a British aristocrat.

Victor turned around and said, "Buguese? What in the heck are you doing here?" The bug eyed swordsman replied, "There has been an incident back in the Inner World. Someone other than that boy Hunter Steele has penetrated it and I have a feeling that they want our Invectid State." Victor then replied, "So what can I do about it? I have to meet up with my brothers very soon. There's a lot going on at the moment." Buguese then replied, "I believe the culprit that entered our state is part of a group that you call the 'Squadron'. Legend has it they're over five hundred thousand generations old. Legend also has it they're made up many different villains from different universes as well."

Victor then took out a red communication device resembling a Telus cell phone in his pocket and then projected a huge holographic screen five feet away from him and Buguese. Victor then said reading the information on the device, "This group Buguese is nothing more than a bunch of guys who want the same amount of power my brothers and I have. You see when Mike, my older brother defeated the Martian king, Osumaster, he not only took out the most powerful villain in the Solar System he also set up a new universal order as well. From there on in Mike was the ruler of the universe itself and slowly but surely I got a status after two years and so did my little brother Chris just four years after Mike."

Buguese then asked, "Why would you tell me these things Victor?" Victor replied, "Because we have to stick together Buguese. If these guys really have invaded the Inner World, then that means no one's safe from these guys. This means we have to be evermore vigilant. I'd suggest you'd get back there and tell Beerain and Stags about this. If you consider it may as well bring Grasshop as well if you can." Buguese nodded and then replied, "You aren't coming with me I take it." Victor shook his youthful head and said, "This isn't like a little while earlier with fighting Mantid you know. These guys mean business and I have to find out what's what. That means that the MVC (if you want abbreviations it is Most Valuable Comrades (besides the whole first initial thing M-Mike, V-Victor and C-Chris)) has to be together as well." A blue portal then appeared leading to the Inner World and as Buguese walked into it he turned to face Victor and said, "Be careful. There's no telling what sort of chaos they could bring about to both our worlds." As Buguese left into the portal, Victor then thought to himself, 'This is not going to be a good day that's for sure. Oh well time I head back. Anastasia might be worried about me.' Victor then opened a white portal to Destiny Island and then headed through into it.

Meanwhile inside the Inner Realm was a man wearing a dark brown cloak. He was as tall as Michael Jordon and he was as buff as a pro at the gym. He had black pupils and his hair was dark as night itself. He also wore dark pants and a dark suit jacket to match on him making him as mysterious as he could possibly get. He took out a blue cell phone and then spoke into it, "This is Mr. M to Home base, the boy has left back to the MVC. I repeat, the boy has left back to Destiny Island my lord. What is your next task?" "Your next task is to head back to the Inner World. We aren't done yet. We need the Oracle Handmaids as the people call them there if we are to make our plans come into fruition." , a sinister voice responded

The cloaked man responded, "I understand my lord. I promise you this, by sunset tomorrow I shall have the handmaidens with me and you shall know great victory." Then the voice replied, "Make sure that you do. I've had enough imbeciles ruin my work as it were and I don't have time for failure!!" The cloaked man closed his cell phone and then left inside a dark portal. Meanwhile, in a distant corner of the universe itself, a strange being started to form near Destiny Island. He was covered in a metallic bodily substance and his entire body started to resemble that of Frieza. As he awoke and took in his first glimpse of the universe around him, he blinked and then thought, 'Where am I? How on Earth did I get here? Man my body aches all over. I feel as if my back is on fire.' "Something troubling you?", said a voice behind the metallic creature. The metal being turned around and asked, "Who in the heck are you?" The man behind him was covered in a silver hooded suit from head to toe and the only thing visible was his green eyes inside the hood. "My identity isn't important as much as you are O'dear creature. You have great destiny that lies before you." The metal being asked then, "What are you talking about? I don't even know who I am let alone where I came from? How could I possibly have great destiny?" The silver hooded man then pointed to the west of them saying, "Seek out the land of 'Aragon'. It is there that you shall have your answers revealed. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself." The silver hooded man disappeared as quickly as he appeared and then the metal being headed off into the cold bowels of space in search of this great 'destiny' before him.

(Next: The Beginning of Something New)

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	3. Chapter 2

**The Beginning of Something New**

As a young green haired boy slept away in his red king sized bed, inside a gorgeous white brick palace, he seemed to be troubled in a dream because he was tossing and turning every millisecond. Inside his dream, the boy was in a small village which was on fire in all directions. He heard a sinister laugh and then asked frightened, "Who's there?" "No one important child. Except you must know by now that you are in danger." Then a black hooded man appeared and attempted to cut him up and then the boy awoke from his troubling dream panting and catching his breath as best he could. He then thought while he brought his hands to face and then brushed his green hair, 'What a nightmare. That's the fifth time this happened. I better get a glass of water before I go nuts.' As the boy got out of his finely sewed silk sheets, he traveled down a large hallway that had on each spot next to a bunch of wooden doors two sets of knight armour on each side making it seem as if the palace was eerily guarded by them. The boy opened a door to his right and then went inside a royal bathroom that had a silver encrusted bathtub, a golden fleeced towel and even the mirror itself was made of pure diamonds.

The boy pushed the cold water tap to the right and as the water gushed out, he sprayed his face with water inside his closed up hands. He then took a look at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were round and puffy like any other kid his age, His hair was so clean and brushed it seemed to look like soft grass a man could lay on and sleep for hours on end (since its hair that's a big no no!!). He also had shiny, baby, blue eyes and his skin was white as snow and his pyjamas were white with a shade of blue on the sleeves of his pant legs and shirt sleeves. He looked at himself and then thought to himself, 'I wish I knew why I keep having these strange dreams. What do they all mean? Is it a warning? Maybe someone's trying to tell me something. It doesn't make any sense.' The boy then clapped his hands on his soft warm cheeks and then he dried his face with the fleece as he headed out the door back to his room.

Meanwhile, down near the throne room of the palace, which was covered in blue and pink banners of representing different kings and queens, had twenty pews on the left and right side of the throne going one in front and then to the back at twenty, it had a curtain and a window set of doors to the left of the throne chairs, and above the throne chairs was a coat of arms resembling a turtle dove and a raven with their beaks pointed to a sword, a giant buff, muscularly tanned man with red hair sat on his chair reading through a message that his royal adviser had sent him moments ago from the city of Achronomia. It read: Be warned great king of Sanshobi. If you do not meet the demands of the 'Squadron', you shall see your own kingdom burn to the ground in a single blaze of open flame. Mark my words, unless we have your son, no one is safe from us. The king then stared off into space with his large brown eyes and then went into a day dream.

'At the gates of the castle (some two weeks earlier), the King of Sanshobi, Gregory and his wife, Queen Alicia, stood there with twenty of their finest guards in silver armour and awaited a man in a black hooded suit to appear. When the large drawbridge finally came down after minutes of waiting a black hooded man arrived with his arms crossed behind his back and an army of ten thousand black armoured men behind him on the other side of the castle surrounded by thick coniferous forests. The man then sinisterly said, "King Gregory. What a surprise this is indeed. After generations of time and hard work we finally meet." The king grunted with his wife behind him who also showed a distasteful non-liking of their visitor as well. The hooded man then said, "We had a deal Gregory. Years ago, my great-grandfather and his generation helped you defeat the invading Saryu Empire five hundred years ago. Now its your turn to repay us with your one and only son." Alicia then asked, "What would you want with our son anyway? What does he have to do in all of this?" Alicia was clothed in a purple silk dress as well as purple glass slippers, her hair was coincidentally purple as was her mascara, Her eyes were brown and her skin was tan as well.

The hooded man said, "Legend has it that the Oracle of Destiny was used by your great-grandfather. Was it not?" The king and queen nodded and then he continued, "I thought so. So here's the deal. Your great-grandfather also said in his dying word that the Oracle will light up again once more in five hundred years time. He also said that a youth from the blood line will use the power of the Oracle to light up the planet and provide a gateway from here to Ailiana. He also mentioned that the youth would be as white skinned coloured as he was when he was alive. In case you dare so ask, my great-grandfather also heard of this and recorded every word of it telling him the warning I'm giving you now. Prepare yourselves. In two weeks time I shall return. If the demands aren't met, your kingdom shall fall." The hooded man then snapped his fingers and disappeared into a dark portal as did his entire army.'

Then Gregory heard an arrow touch down near the foothold of the palace and then one of his guards say, "Squadron. They're here. Prepare the troops!! I repeat, prepare the troops now!!" The king stepped out onto his acre long balcony and saw flames burst inside the castle grounds as well as his archers firing at black hooded men taking some down, but also some of his men falling down dead as well or injured. At the very bottom a black hooded man leading them yelled, "Five troops cover the eastern front, once we distract them there, the rest of you will come with me and destroy the gate on the other side of the castle. Once there we'll capitalize on their weaknesses." Then the boy heard all of the commotion and got on some clothes (which was a white shirt, a blue jacket with a cape like end near the back of it at the bottom, and a pair of light brown pants, along with a dark brown pair of shoes and a blue artist hat.) The hooded man spotted him and thought to himself, 'That's right boy. You'd better not run off. You'll just make it harder on yourself.' Then he yelled, "Fire the catapults!!" The five troops had five boulders on five huge catapults and launched them knocking down the gate and crushing the west wall of the kingdom gate. Then thousands of them started to go inside creating a diversion and then the hooded man leading the crew went in himself and ran towards the palace as he was then surrounded by many silver armoured guards. He then took out a long white rapier and slashed the men in all directions.

Meanwhile, in the boy's room he thought, 'I wonder what's going on outside. It sure looks weird down there.' Then the door got busted down and it was King Gregory and behind him Queen Alicia panting. Gregory then said, "Henry. Son. We have to get you out of here." Henry then looked inquisitively and asked, "But why? Is something wrong?" Queen Alicia then said hugging her son, "There's no time. We must get you out of here." Then all three of them heard an explosion and then went outside to look. A guard lay on the floor nearly unconscious and said, "The hooded…man…rapier…too…strong!!!" As he fell unconscious, Gregory took out a giant mace and then yelled, "Come out you coward!!" Alicia then said, "Let's go Henry!!" "But what about father?", Henry asked with his eyes beginning to water. As his mother began to push him towards the escape exit, a hooded man appeared in front of Gregory and then said putting his sword five feet behind him, "Long live the king!!" Henry then yelled as his mother tried restraining him, "Father!!" Yet even when Gregory closed his eyes, nothing happened. When he opened them he saw a tremendous sight.

A boy in a nice pair of 7s jeans, a black shirt and black shoes with a transparent sword blocked the attack and clashed with the hooded man. "How dare you intrude in affairs that aren't your own.", said the hooded man. As they both clashed and Victor hit him right, left then uppercutted him, Victor said, "How dare you kill for pleasure scum!!" Victor teleported in mid air and punched him to the ground of the hallway and the hooded man said getting up from his weakened state, "We shall meet again boy!! Mark my words, we shall meet again!!" He then disappeared along with the rest of the invading army of the 'Squadron'. Then as Victor put his sword away, Henry ran up and tackled him, hugged him and then said, "Thanks for saving my father." "Aw, it was nothing little man. He's a coward as all. The whole lot of them are nothing, but cowards.", Victor replied.

Victor got up and then told the King and Queen as well as Henry that he travelled here on business and said he was after the Squadron itself because of all of the disturbances they created universally. Then the king and Queen went into the throne room as did Henry and they sat on their thrones. Pretty soon many nobility, aristocrats, and peasantry (in this monarchy the peasants have more respect), sat in the pews and then Victor stood in the middle of the throne room with the royal family smiling at him (Gregory, Alicia, and Henry) and what's more there were many children that got out of the pews and took either side of Victor's hands and surround him as he walked closer and closer to the throne. They then let go of his hands and Victor just smiled at them and snapped his fingers and from the ceiling rained down candy and chocolate. He then knelt down giving Henry a chocolate bar and as he opened it and it with glee he then said, "Mmm…This is delicious!!" The king and queen smiled as did Victor and then one nobility man yelled while standing, "Have you no respect boy? That's the prince of Sanshobi. You can't…" Gregory raised his hand and then the man sat down with his arms crossed. Gregory stood up and then put his hand on Victor's right shoulder as he knelt in front of the royal family. He then said, "Thanks to you my boy, you saved my son from unspeakable danger. I don't know of how I could possibly repay you." Victor then took out his sword and pierced it into the brick floor and said, "There's no need. I am, but a humble servant to those who need help. I also apologize for taking over Sanshobi as well." Gregory perked Victor's chin up and said, "No my boy. You did what you had to do. You saved us all from Darkness. He was one of the enemies my great-grandfather faced as well, but he never did win against. You are the only one who can harm him from what I've seen. Legend has it, that a boy would be born on a planet quite far from here called Earth. From it he and two other boys: one older and younger than him would create a new order and shatter the old foundations of good and evil all together and create an era of justice and purity. I believe that day has come with your presence. The old text legend also said that the boy would wield a transparent sword carved from light, his brother would have a sword carved from darkness and the youngest a sword carved from a balance of light and darkness. That is why I am sending my son with you." The entire audience gasped as did Victor and Victor asked as he looked up, "But why? I can't be trusted my lord. I literally took your heart in my hands and…" Then Gregory raised his right hand again and said, "No more talk. My wife and I agreed before that this would happen. The legend said that the boy who wielded light would take our world by storm and eventually save us from peril and then he would come and protect our son. You are his saviour boy and thus I am entrusting you to take good care of him." Henry then stepped down from his throne and grabbed Victor's right hand and pulled him up. As he held his hand, Alicia stepped down the stairs and held her husband's right arm and said, "There's no lie that our son has been looking up to you all this time you know. He always did say he wanted to be just like the boy in the legends. You are the 'White Knight'. Now then, will you take our son with you on your journey and protect him?" Victor stared at the plead looking king and queen who had their hands clenched for prayer and then looked at the green haired boy smiling at him with his eyes closed.

Victor smiled and then said raising his sword high into the sky, "I shall protect him with my very soul your majesty!!" As he did do this a beacon of light shone through the windows above each banner and created a miasma aura above Victor as he held it up high and everyone bowed to him except the king, the queen and Henry. Victor then put his sword away and the light ceased. As he bowed to them, Henry then grabbed his hand and tried running to the throne room door and said, "Come on. We should go. I want to go exploring mr. …" "Victor. Call me Victor.", Victor replied. As he looked at the king and queen, he smiled and nodded his head as did both of them smiling at him. Then Henry ran off with Victor getting tugged at by the preteen youth out the throne room door and they disappeared into a portal of light. Then Gregory laughed and said, "I hope Henry plays nice with his role model. That boy sure does love a good adventure." Alicia smiled and replied, "I know. That son of ours always did love looking at the stars and wanting to explore the universe." As they said this the people left the throne room back into the kingdom and Gregory and Alicia went to their balcony and watched the sun set in the Sanshobian forest and in the distance they saw Sanshobi city (the place where Sora and the others fought Victor on their last adventure) glowing a nice white colour as it had been before.

(Next time: A Secret Unraveled.)

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	4. Chapter 3

**A Secret Unraveled**

When Sora looked around, he noticed that he was inside a large office that looked like that of NASA's communications centre. There was a round table with three chairs labeled M in the centre, V to the left of it and C to the right of it. Michael went and sat down at his computer that was on a desk in the right hand corner of the room and typed a code into his files and while that was happening Sora looked around and saw different plaques on the walls from many different cities, like Tokyo, New York, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, London, Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, etc. They also had a giant plaque above a door in the far left hand corner of the room that read: "So long as the universe is plagued by the great essence of evil, so long shall we exist to aid those in their darkest hours." There was a giant theatre screen hanging from the ceiling near the front of the room beside the door and the plaque to the left and Mike's computer to the right and on the right hand side was black birch shelf filled with many books of the sort.

Sora then saw the little boy that was next to Michael on Destiny Island sit down and take out a silver laptop. When Sora stared at the kid, he just smiled and said, "I got World of Warcraft on here. In case you're interested." Sora then sat down and asked, "Just who are you guys anyway?" Michael then closed off the files he read and then stood up and said, "We Sora are the most powerful people in the universe and this is our headquarters. In a way you could say we act like a corporation because we do good deeds for others and even though we don't expect anything in return, the people constantly pay us money or rewards for saving their lives." Sora then asked, "Are there more guys like you Michael?" Michael responded, "Two things: One, call me Mike. It's kind of a drag saying my full name over and over again. Two, Yes there are. I alone have met over two hundred thousand people or beings like Vic, Chris and myself. The little guy playing WOW (World of Warcraft) is Christopher. He's my brother so you can just call him Chris." Sora stared at the little guy playing WOW and he just smiled again cheerfully.

Sora then asked Mike, "So then Victor's with you as well huh?" Mike nodded and replied, "That's a big affirmative there. He's my right hand man in tough assignments and is very powerful all on his own. That's why I sent him to your universe in the first place." Sora then asked, "Woah woah woah. I thought Victor came of his free will here. He said it himself, that he came here to find Darkness." "Yes, but not without my permission. I'm the leader of this little operation. You see Sora, over the years as we grew up, we slowly figured that being bad to the bone didn't really do anything, but break our hearts and leave us cold and withered away. After we beat the Legion, we slowly came to realize that we had tremendous powers all on our own and together as a team. That's what we try and do here, besides go to random parts of the universe and aid different people, like yourself against someone or something evil. Yet we have been following a code that we go by as the 'Main Elite'. It basically states that we can't go and fight random people without any reason. As Victor probably told you, that's why he left your universe shortly after he arrived in it. When Darkness left, so too did any reason for him to stay in your universe.", Mike replied.

Sora then said, "So why do you guys need me anyway? I thought Victor beat Darkness at his own game." "Oh it's not Darkness we're worried about. It's about a certain gang called the 'Squadron' is what we're going after. About a week ago, while Victor was awaiting you guys on Sanshobi, he sent us a signal about these guys appearing in your neck of the universe. They're looking for something valuable and we're trying to figure out what." Sora then asked, "So what makes you sure these guys are really bad at all?" Mike went to his computer and opened the file he was reading.

It read: Local Gang terrorizes citizens of Counter Strike Planet. A so called gang called the 'Squadron' has made itself known this week through set of harassments, robberies and a set of assassinations and bounty hunters being paid to find things on the 'Burning Legion', a legendary demonic force that roams the very land of Azeroth and the universe it accompanies. So far, the government has done everything in their power to detain these hoodlums, but they seem too powerful even for them. Mike then replied as Sora read this, "Does that answer your question?" Sora nodded and Mike continued, "These guys are planning something.

The trick is though they keep doing some of the most random things though so we haven't been able to get a good lead and the second we do they cover up their tracks in the blink of an eye. I swear, the guy who's behind all of this must be a technical genius if he can manipulate all of the evidence we have at ease. Which is where you come in Sora. Since you know your own neck of the universe better than we do, you can probably help us out with any information you might have or others might have as well." Sora nodded and then replied, "I'll see what I can do, but this is all just too confusing." Then the door opened wide and from it came Victor in a nice pair of jeans and a black shirt.

Mike then said, "Good timing Vic. We've got a lot to do today." Victor replied, "You're telling me Mike. I haven't been this uptight since we got back to Earth from the Eternal Beyond." Mike then said, "Either way I'm sure you've already met Sora so I won't go into introductions. Can you fill in questions he might have? I have to go take care of a few things quickly before we get underway." Victor then replied, "Sure thing. I don't think there's too much to do as of yet." Mike went to his computer and then Sora asked, "What the heck is going on here? Are we under attack or something?" Victor tapped Sora's shoulder and said, "That's the thing. We aren't quite sure yet. The 'Squadron' could have anything up their sleeves. They want to get a hold of the 'Burning Legion'. I mean those guys are as powerful against us as much as a pop can is to a cat. For all we know they could be planning on taking over our universe back home."

Sora then asked, "Where are we anyway? Last time I checked, Mike and the little guy over there, Chris, were with me when we teleported here." Victor replied, "We're at the centre of the universe Sora. It's here that we get a good view of every planet and every world or universe. From here we usually do our 'hero' bit and all, but it all takes time, so my older bro centered it here so we could regroup in case a situation got to extremely dangerous to handle. Speaking of which, I also brought a few friends." Behind Victor, were Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and a green haired boy. Sora smiled and said, "You brought the whole gang up here?" "Ordered by Mike himself. He's got a funny way of showing his compassionate side, but he still is a nice guy all and all. Anyways, you guys are going to need to be together for this one. Simply because my brothers and I are going to be accompanying you through the worlds to find out what this gang is capable of." Sora then saw the green haired boy shake his hand and he said while smiling and having his eyes closed, "So you're Sora. It's a pleasure to meet you. Victor's told me a lot about you." Sora then grabbed Victor and went into private chit chat. Sora asked, "So who's the green haired kid?" Victor replied, "He's the prince of Acronomia and Sanshobi. King Gregory and Queen Alicia put him in my trusted care, saying that he was excited to go on this adventure with us. Can you try to just play it cool with him? He's a little shy meeting new people and the only reason he shook hands with you is because I told him you were really nice and all." Sora nodded and said, "I never said I wouldn't be. I just wanted to know who he was that's all." Sora then introduced himself to Henry as did Henry introduce himself to Sora.

Riku then said, "So the 'Squadron' is already on the worlds right now?" Sora asked, "You guys know about all of this?" They all nodded and Victor replied, "Yes, because I told them all the stuff that my older bro told you. Also to answer Riku's question, yes they are on the worlds here, but not just here. Like you have all heard, they want the Burning Legion and are likely on other worlds in other universes too. So that means if all goes to worse we may have to split up to cover more ground or in this case 'space', no pun intended." Kairi then replied, "Hold up. So that means we're all going together?" Victor nodded and said, "You guys know your own home better than us so for the time being we'll follow you guys until we get our bearing properly. Plus, my brothers and I have a few good fighting moves of our won to show off ourselves." Then Mike called the group on over together and then said, "Well I hope that takes care of all of those distractions. Because now we have a job to do. Chris, what world is open now?" Chris logged out of his WOW account and then looked up the KH universe map and saw at least one world open. It was all covered in deciduous trees and a huge ocean to its eastern coast. Chris said, "There's only the one here, but it doesn't have a name." Mike then replied, "Never mind then. Let's just get ready to move on out. We have a job to do."

Chris then logged out of his fancy laptop and then Mike pressed a secret switch underneath the table and it flipped the ground underneath the table to reveal a large round silver high tech. platform. Mike, Victor and Chris got on, but the entire group was hesitant at first to do so in kind. Victor then said, "Well, don't just put your hands in pockets and sit there. Get on board." Riku then asked, "How do we know we won't end up like a bunch of deformed rednecks or something?" Mike then said, "I designed and built this whole transporter myself. I think I know what I can and can't do now come on!!" The group then stepped aboard and Mike pressed a switch on the transporter and the entire group vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, back at the high tech. base seven of the dark figures of the 'Squadron' base were discussing their latest plans over the last few hours. One man said, "You guys I'm just gonna come right out with it. This plan is so dumb and lame even if I said my dog ate my homework, my dog wouldn't even eat this pile of…Well you get the point. It just doesn't add up." One of the other guys to his right asked, "Since when does anything add up nowadays. I mean we're going to take on the MVC. The MVC!!" then a guy across the table said, "It does seem like this is all for not doesn't it? I mean if we do succeed in opening the door to Tranquility and the door to Perfidiousness we not only can find some of the most powerful villains in the universe to help us whenever possible, but we also have an edge against the MVC despite their immense power. Yet on the hand, they are not only powerful together, but alone they can spur our best efforts to make any progress. In a sense, we could be stuck in a 'hook, line and sinker' stalemate even if we did figure out this information given to us by 'The Lord'." Another guy beside him said, "I did the best I could. The only thing I found was a boy on Sanshobi is the key to opening the Oracle of Destiny. If we can do that, then we can harness its power to invoke the insidious one's wrath upon the universe and if we are successful then the MVC will perish as will any other threats to our universal order." Then the entire group of seven heard a voice come from 'The Lord's' chair. It turned towards them and said, "You're all missing our main objective though my associates. We need to isolate Michael. He is the one with the most power at his finger tips. He can destroy ten planets in a single flick of his finger and a vigintillion armies in a single blast. If he cracks our code to our base, we are as good as dead." The guy beside him asked, "So what do we do?" 'The Lord' then said, "First, we need to get that green haired boy away from Victor."

(The Door to Tranquility and Perfidiousness eh? There's more to come so stay tuned. (Note next chapter Valadain will make an appearance.))

(Next time: The Next Adventure.)

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	5. Chapter 4

**The Next Adventure**

The group then appeared on a column with a picture of Chris (Christopher) at the centre of it. It had brown shading around it and it also had three sets of three swords on the top centre just above his head and two others at the bottom right and left hand side of the platform underneath his feet. On the left side they saw a dragon looking creature that resembled that of Bowser from the Super Mario Bros. game. On the right they saw a blonde woman in a pink dress with a crown on her head and wore white gloves on her hands. In the distance behind Christopher's image, was a giant white castle in the distance to his left in a tiny corner. There was also three sets of swords forming a triangle around Chris each set of which contained three swords each forming the clash of the trio "The Three Musketeers". Mike then said, "Be wary you guys. This is where our adventure begins." Sora then asked, "What are we going to do here?" Victor then said, "It's simple Sora. We're going to test your powers out here since this is place where it all started. Right?" Sora nodded and then Chris said, "Besides, it shouldn't take too long. There's only six tests we're going to give you guys. The first two here are going to test your reflexes and you're timing, the next two will test your smarts and your imagination and the last two will test your courage and your stamina." Mike, Victor and Chris then disappeared.

From their place at least thirty to forty heartless appeared. Sora then gloated and said as he drew out his keyblade, "This won't take too long. Forty heartless against the seven of us sounds like good odds since we're all good with our weapons." The heartless then grew to Riku's size and Riku then said, "Good call. Heck maybe we'll actually get to sleep too while we're at it." Sora stuck out his tongue at him and then the others drew out their weapons/keyblades. Henry was more unique on the other hand because he drew out a sword that resembled that of Attm's Longsword. Sora then saw as he charged into the centre of the column and sliced the stomach of one heartless destroying him in the process. He turned and saw Sora staring at him and asked, "What? You've never seen someone with a sword fight?" Sora then said, "It's just that: a, you look about Chris' age and you're a pro at this. B, that sword looks like someone else's." Victor replied in an eerie voice, "Actually Sora, that sword is the original Longsword of Henry's bloodline of the Capulets. That sword has been passed down from generation to generation. I simply copied it and made Attm wield it as his weapon that's all." As Henry slashed his enemies, Sora and the others simply watched as the youth seemed to have an endless amount of power and then he clashed his weapon with a knight looking brown figure. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. Every enemy you may come across will have some similar traits to that of a human. But don't be fooled. Like you heard from Yen Sid a year earlier, like the nobodies, a lot of these enemies don't have hearts at all.", Sora then asked, "How do you know about that?" Victor replied, "We've got good research back at HQ. Trust me we know everything there is to know about you guys." Chris then said. "It's not just heartless or nobodies you'll face either." "You will have to fight many villains of all varieties too. Some of them are more powerful and cunning than that of Xehanort or Maleficent.", Victor replied. Mike then said, "You'll also have to travel across the entire universe like we did as well to fight these villains." As Henry fought the knight slashing his armour and his sword, he then clashed his sword to his chest and then jumped, the figure caught his foot and slammed him to the ground. Mickey then ran up and jumped over the figure and sliced his back from behind.

The being fell and Henry said, "Thanks. That guy was tough." Mickey then said, "It's no problem. These guys are nothing, but nuisances." Then they saw colourful glass stairway leading higher and higher into the huge darkness that lay on the left and the right of the column. "Proceed you guys. You're all ready for your next lesson.", Victor said. The group together then walked up the rainbow glass stairs and then found themselves walked around in huge circles. They eventually found themselves on another column, but this time it had a picture of Victor in the centre with a picture of Darkness at the bottom reflecting as his shadow and to his left was Anastasia and to his right was Kazuya, the purple demon with his arms crossed and his head looking over his right shoulder in a mysterious way. It had white shading all around the column and it had three sets of swords with two swords over lapping each other in each set forming a triangle as well back on Chris's column. In the distance there was a giant mountain to the right in a tiny corner opposite to that of the white castle from the other column. Victor then said, "You must also remember this. With smarts, comes not the right to use, but the strength to use it. You have to know when and where to use your abilities." In the centre of the arena appeared a single tall warrior in a black cloak. He was extremely buff, carried a Zanbato weapon, and he looked like that of a stag beetle in a human form. Sora then ran up and clashed with the Zanbato, but the being blew him away with such ease. As Sora landed on his stomach, Kairi then knelt down in shock and then asked, "O Sora. Are you okay?" Sora slowly got up and felt his whole body shaking. "Man. That was some attack. This guy's so powerful he made my whole body go numb." Victor then said with the group staring at the warrior, "Imagine how Hunter must felt trying to take down this bugger. This my good friend, is nothing more than a copy of an original warrior that Hunter and I faced a few years back while you were fighting Xemnas. He's a warrior built for battle and tenacity. Believe me when I say this, use your imagination. It might help you."

Riku then said, "Guess it can't hurt to try." Mickey then jumped in mid-air and then floated down quickly to the brute warrior. He sliced his Zanbato and pushed him back, but only but ten feet. The warrior ran up and clashed his sword with Mickey's keyblade. As he struggled to hold his own, Mickey then said, "This sure makes me wish we had those suits right about now. That Sword of Balance really came in handy." Then before Mickey knew it, his armour came back and he was wielding the Sword of Balance in his right hand. The others gasped and then Kairi asked, "How's that possible? It just appeared out of nowhere." Riku then said, "Maybe it has to do with your thoughts. If we believe in the suits, maybe they're already inside us, but we just think they aren't." Sora then said, "Sure beats just sitting here doing nothing. Let's do it." Then Riku imagined his black amoured suit and it appeared as did his Sword of Darkness. Sora then imagined his armoured suit and then he got his Sword of Light back as well. Kairi then imagined as well and she got a purple armoured suit and a pink sword. Riku and Sora gasped and asked, "How in the heck did you…" Kairi then giggled a little and asked, "You didn't think you were the only ones who could do that now did you?" Henry then said running up to fight the beetle warrior with Mickey, Donald and Goofy, "I'd hate to break up this good tender moment, but we got trouble." Then Sora, Riku and Kairi pulled themselves together and all together the group teamed up on the warrior and destroyed him. Yet he disappeared in the form of data. Sora then asked, "What the…" Mike then replied, "This is nothing more than a simulator room people. Before we could actually leave the MVC HQ, we had to test your abilities and where better to do it, but in a simulator. We thought that if you could do great here, you can certainly make a run for any villain's money if you try." Sora then asked, "Are we at least almost done?" A colourful glass stairway appeared again and then Chris said, "Yep. So far you guys have passed four of the six tests. Just the last two and you're all set." Victor then replied, "But be warned though. Courage and stamina are a just a few of the hardest things to maintain in battle. No matter what happens, you all must stay close to light, no matter the consequences." They all nodded and then ran up the stairway up to a black shaded column which had Mike's image on it. He was in a black army man's suit and held a long skinny gun in both of his hands. To his left there was a picture of the Master Chief from Halo, but his suit was black in Colour and to his right was a blonde girl about Mike's age in a white dress. In a corner to the left was a green planet and to the right was a giant ring (essentially the Halo environment from the first game). There were also three sets of swords but they was only one sword per set and all three were pointing to Mike's image. Mike then said, "Now is the final test. You must face your greatest fears and show no mercy when destroying it."

Then the group saw each and every last one of their shadows combine together to form one giant heartless. It looked similar to the one Sora fought in his dreams two years ago. Mike then replied, "Otherwise, the darkness will swallow you whole like a buffet table." Before anyone could react, Henry ran up to the great goliath and stood before it and said, "I'm not afraid of you. I'll never give in. Do you hear me? Never!!" Riku then whispered to Sora, "I wonder what's got him so fired up?" Sora then asked, "How should I know? I mean we all have just met him." Mickey then said, "Oh boys. If we're done chatting here let's move." Then a barrier appeared in front of the group enclosing Henry and the dark being. Goofy then said, "Looks like this one's his fight fellas. Let's leave it to Henry." Mickey then nodded as did everyone else and then Henry jumped and sliced the giant's left arm clean right off. The others gasped at this and then started cheering Henry on. Kairi yelled, "You show him Henry. He's got nothing on you!!" Sora then said, "Yeah Henry!!" Henry then thought as the giant slammed his hand just above him with the Longsword barely holding him off, 'Even in the bleakest of times, these guys are always there for me. Such great friends I must protect.' Henry then slid underneath the giant and climbed on his back toward his head (similar to that of POP Warrior Within style if you'll soon notice). He then started slashing the monster's head and it reached up with its left arm to catch him, but Henry avoided him as the giant moved around to knock him down. He reached to the right, but Henry moved to the left and then continued slashing. Then Henry stabbed the head of the beast and as it fell to its knees and disappeared into darkness, Henry did a back flip and landed on the ground accomplished and panting for air. As the barrier disappeared, the group cheered some more as Goofy said, "Gawrsh, he sure is powerful." Sora then yelled, "You did it!!" as the group ran on over, Riku gave Henry a noogie to which the young boy was constantly saying, "Aw come on you guys, it was nothing." Kairi smiled as she saw the boys playing together and Mickey said, "Sure is a long road we're going to travel you know." Kairi then looked at Mickey and asked, "What do mean?" "I mean that we've had good luck like this before at the beginning and then before you know it we're countered by another threat.", Mickey replied. Then a door of light appeared behind Henry and the entire group got sucked into it.

(Keep in mind they're still in the suits) As they opened their eyes to see where they were they found themselves back in that same room where the simulator was and Mike, Victor and Chris were there waiting for them. Victor then asked smugly, "Have a nice trip?" Sora then asked, "So you guys were here the whole time?" "Front and centre. From what Victor gathered, you guys were powerful, but Chris and I wanted to see for yourselves and I have some good and bad news.", Mike replied. Riku then asked, "So what's the good news?" "The good news is it would seem Victor taught you guys well how to fight and are more powerful than the villains that Chris faced and as powerful as the ones Victor has faced. The bad news is you guys aren't nearly as powerful as the villains I have faced, which could pose a problem in the end.", Mike continued. Kairi then asked, "Why is that? I just got a new suit and we all seemed to work well together." Mike then said, "That's just it though. You can't always rely on each for strength against the villains we have faced. They are much more powerful than you know. In fact, my brothers and I have fought so many battles alone as well as together I can't even begin to count. We've met characters that have fought alone as well as together to accomplish these as well, but sadly those guys were the last generation that have done that of the sort. If you guys can't coordinate your attacks alone as well as together you're as good as done for." Mike then walked over to the platform and changed the settings from simulator to teleportation. Victor then said, "Which is why we're going with you guys." As they gasped, Mike then replied, "Yes. If anything, I'll pretty much just expand on what Victor taught you and teach you guys how I fight my enemies. Each member of the MVC has a different style of fighting. So far you've mastered all of Victor's techniques and heck you could all do Chris' abilities in one lesson. Now you must face my lessons, so be ready. I can and will call on any of you to master any threat in the way of our journey and you will have to use my teachings to do it. Got it?" The group then nodded and then Henry knelt down and said with everyone staring, "I am most humbled to follow any direction you take us in Mike. Victor has told me so much about you." Victor then said, "Well what can I say? The boy was curious and wants to become a great warrior like his father, let alone me from what their old legends have said about me." Mike then said, "So I see. It makes sense. I take it you must be Prince Henry of the Capulets, and thus that makes you the Oracle Destiny. A bad omen, that's what this is. Vic, you did the right thing bringing him to me." Sora and the others then looked at each other and Mickey then asked, "Not to be a pain in the neck Mike, but what is this Oracle of Destiny? I don't think I've heard of something like this and I've been to Terraneus, Saryu, Sanshobi, and Ailiana four times each." Mike then said, "Have a seat you guys. We got a lot to cover in the next little bit, before we take off." The entire group sat on the chairs that were provided as Victor, Mike and Chris sat in their chairs and they began to talk about various things about Henry and the Capulets.

Meanwhile, Valadain was walking along a huge canyon and stared amongst its magnificent beauty and saw in the distance a castle. He then thought, 'Castle Imorgia. I never thought I would see the day coming back here. But if that is where Felicia is, I must press onward.' He then heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see, but no one was there. He then turned back to his front side and saw a man with black frizzy hair which also had two long side burns going across his ears behind his head measuring about five to seven inches, had a black rectangular mustache going across and downward in the same rectangular way, green eyes, black leather coat as well as black pants, white shirt that had a skull in the centre of it and read "Only Cowards Take The Easy Way Out", and he had a gun in a sash case wrapped around his neck to his back and a sword in its case near his left hip. Valadain took out his sword and asked, "What do you want Tyrannius? I'm in a hurry." "So I see. It must be hard looking for the love you could never have.", Tyrannius said. Valadain then ran up sword in hand and Tyrannius in a split second took out his sword which was eerily similar to that of Cloud's sword and clashed with Valadain. Valadain asked, "How dare you even show your face to me let alone in a place like this? Have you no shame?" Tyrannius pushed him back slightly and said, "No, but I do have a few questions that I need answered right now punk. Otherwise, I'm gone. And let me tell you one thing. I may or may not know what happened to Felicia." Valadain ran up and yelled as Tyrannius walked the other way behind Valadain, "Wait. Maybe we can come to an agreement." Tyrannius turned his head over his left shoulder and then said, "That's more like it. Nothing like a classic 'Quid Pro Quo' to enlighten old friendships."

(Henry of course has a fighting style similar to that of POP, which is why he fought the way he did against the giant heartless. As for Tyrannius and Valadain, this is more of a subplot, but at the same time all of this is tied into the story so you'll soon find out.)

(Next Time: The Wrath of the Insidious One).

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	6. Chapter 5

**The Wrath of the Insidious One**

As Sora and the others listened to Mike's story, they began to soon understand the importance of Henry and the entire idea of the Oracle of Destiny itself. "As of yet we don't know what the purpose of the Oracle of Destiny is, but we do know who created it and what it was for though. It was none other than Henry's great-grandfather. Five hundred years ago, long before any of us existed, there was a 'war of the worlds' going on in this neck of the universe and the Saryu Empire as it was called on the planet was claiming territories like that of our Roman Empire on Earth in Europe. Yet at the same time, Sanshobi which was more powerful than the empire itself, also wanted an empire to call its own and the people decided if they could overpower the planet of Saryu, then they could essentially take over the universe. However both sides always ended up at a 'Stalemate' and couldn't make progress. So the Capulets decided they would call a truce with the Saryu Empire and call the war off, but they didn't listen. It wasn't until Darkness appeared for the first in universal history that both the Saryu Empire and Sanshobi united together to fight off this menace. Yet no warrior was powerful to destroy this monster. It wasn't until Theodore Capulet, Henry's great-grandfather came along, that they actually managed to spark resistance against Darkness. Theodore used a special green gem known as the 'Oracle of Destiny to banish Darkness away into the Nether Realms of Space and once he did he also sacrificed his own life in doing so and the gem was locked away inside a cave on planet Ironstrike. He said in his dying words that there would be a time when a youth would open up the powers of the gem itself.", Mike said. Henry then said, "That's right. My parents always said that that gem was used to keep the doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness locked up." Sora stretched his arms after listening to the long story and asked, "What are the doors of Tranquility and Peridios…Perdios…""They are the doors to both goodness and light and evilness and dark. Legend has it that that's where people go to when they leave your planet through death and depending on whether they've been good or not go to the door of Tranquility or the door of Perfidiousness.", Henry continued. Mike then continued, "Your great-grandfather also said the youth he mentioned would have skin as white as snow." The group then got shocked and eerily looked at Henry who in fact did have skin as white as snow. Henry then pointed to himself and asked, "So I'm the key to the Oracle of Destiny."

Mike continued, "Actually from what the Legend depicts, you are the Oracle of Destiny." As the group gasped at this Mike continued, "The legend depicts that the Oracle of Destiny was created by a mere man who used its power through a gem. It also said that power would skip two generations and then hit the fourth generation which is namely you, and thus inherent the powers your great-grand father had and more. You Henry are the key to the very doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness itself and it gets worse too. Legend has it that your great-grand father faced someone that Darkness took over on Saryu many years ago when it was an empire. It was in fact the emperor of Saryu, Yuis Caesar. He had extraordinary powers and controlled water at his command, but when Darkness took him over that power became the powers of ice and his skin went from its natural blue like many people on Saryu have it, to pure black. He soon became known as the 'Insidious One' because of his immense slaughtering of his own people and the Sanshobians. He also wore a silver mask made out of pure titanium. Theodore defeated Yuis, but he vowed revenge though and would stop at nothing to get it. Legend has it he was locked away inside a gate to the Nether Realm itself and waits to this day for vengeance." Sora then said, "I guess we got a lot more than the 'Squadron' to worry about now."

Mike continued, "Yep and I think now would be a good time to go now. Chris, do you have the identity of that world that was open a half hour ago?" Chris nodded and said, "Apparently it's the USA, but during some of the European colonial trips of the 1600s." As the group stood up, Mike continued, "I'll go set up the defense system on the computer just in case those guys get any ideas. I'd suggest doing your stretches now since we won't have a lot of time to relax on this trip." The group nodded and as everyone got on the transporter, which was set for teleportation instead of simulation, Sora saw Henry staring at the plaque that read "So long as evil plagues the universe, so long shall we remain.", Sora asked, "Hey Henry, something the matter or are you just homesick?" Henry looked at Sora and smiled a little shaking his head and then replied, "It's nothing. Nothing at all." As he walked onto the platform, Mike, Victor and Chris got on the platform and once again vanished without a trace to adventure and a new journey.

**Flashback**

Seven years ago, as Henry was tucked into his big soft bed one warm crisp night, his mom sat down on the bed next to him and read another story of 'The White Knight' as told by many legendary folk tales. "And so the White Knight slashed away the giant Bear and then warned its master not to harm the innocent villagers or the children he was protecting behind his cape. The animal tamer agreed saying he didn't know what came over him and promised to never use any animal for harm again. The next day, as the White Knight got on his valiant stead, Sterrelio, many of the villagers as well as the children pleaded him not to go. Yet the White Knight said this: 'So long as there is an impure soul, creature or person, so too would his mission of cleansing the world never cease as well. One little child started crying and he looked no older than four. He had soft brown hair and cheeks as rosy red and round as a chipmunk. As the boy cried, The White Knight picked him up and gave him a warm hug. He then said, "My boy, there are other little children just like you that need me and I can't let them down. If anything happened to either of you I would never forgive myself as a guardian." The boy stopped crying and then hugged the knight tightly as he smiled and then said, "You won't forget about me will you?" "So long as draw breath and so long as I stand proud and true I will never forget about those who I protect. That would also include little squires like you." As the Knight scratched the boy's hair and put him on the ground, Sterrelio galloped away far and wide across the dreary meadow and up to low highlands. As the White Knight looked back at the people he saved they smiled and waved to him and many of the children waved to him as well all of which cried having to say goodbye to their hero. Even as the White Knight galloped away into the warm sunset, he waved back to them as well assuring them he would return some day. And they all lived happily ever after. The End."

As Alicia closed the book, Henry raised his curious little face from the blankets as he saw his mother giggle in delight at how adorable he was in youth radiance. Henry then asked with a big bright smile and glowing eyes, "Was the White Knight ever a real person mother?" "Oh I'm not sure why not Henry? There have been many great heroes in the Capulets and on Sanshobi I'm sure enough he was real.", Alicia replied. Henry then replied smiling, "I want to be just like him when I grown up!!" Alicia closed her eyes and smiled back saying, "I'm sure you could be son. You're my brave little hero." As she said this she grabbed Henry's left cheek and then hugged him and kissed his head as he stroked him gently. Henry then said cuddling up to his sweet warm mother, "Can we read another story tomorrow mother?" "I promise dear. But you have to go to sleep. Otherwise you'll miss a beautiful day and then what?" Henry laughed and said, "I know I know. Good night mother." As Henry tilted his head to the left side of the bed, Alicia closed the door softly and put out the candle in his room whispering, "Good night my little angel." As Alicia put on her purple robe and headed back to her room down the long castle hallway she heard a voice say, "The time shall come when he has to prove himself. You can't hide it forever." Alicia turned around frightened and asked, "Who's there?" No one was there. "Beware the Insidious One!! Beware the Insidious One!!" The voice disappeared and Alicia went into a door to her left and inside the Master Bed room where King Gregory was fast asleep.

**Present**

Meanwhile, Valadain was in chit chat with Tyrannius about his demands and Valadain's demands. Valadain said, "I just want Felicia. I don't have time to spend making some silly contract." Tyrannius signed a piece of paper labeled: Yellow Contract and said, "There, are you happy now? I'm done. We agree to let bygones be bygones and put aside our differences for a common goal: you get the girl back and head on off to wherever life takes the both of you happy lovers and when I return to Saryu you have to promise to get me a good word with the King of Saryu so I can go back there and claim my uncle's wealth." Valadain asked, "I thought he was only 83." "So what? He's been deceased for three years now. Man how long have you been searching for this girl? Two Millenniums? Yeesh, I swear I should have planned this out a little more.", Tyrannius replied. Valadain then looked up at the bright sky and as he stared at Castle Imorgia, he saw pink rose petals blow in the wind and as he grabbed one in his hand he thought, 'It won't be long now my love. It won't be long now.' "Hello, Earth to Val. Snap out of it!!" Valadain came out of his day dream and said, "So it's settled then. We together until that contract is null and void." Tyrannius nodded and then pointed to a lush forest at the bottom of the canyon. "If we take a route near the bottom of the forest, we should save ourselves a couple of days travelling and we should be able to make it to the castle with good food supplies. The bad news is there's plenty of danger down there as well so be wary." Valadain nodded and then both him and Tyrannius climbed down the canyon into the lush greenery that lay below them.

(Next Time: Pocahontas.)

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	7. Chapter 6

**Pocahontas**

_(Warning: Some references to Birth by Sleep may be mentioned, but it will be just subtle little things. Trust me, for all I know __Birth by Sleep could end by Terra turning rogue and destroying KH himself if anyone has seen the trailer (then again who hasn't))_

As Sora fell and fell more through the bottomless darkness, he saw many images of Victor and his brothers as kids growing up. One image showed them as mere orphans on the open streets, one showed Victor in the prime of his youth fighting the Leopard King, and one showed a tall lean warrior fighting off a dark suited Master Chief from the Halo series. Sora asked, "W-Where am I?" "You my friend are in the Chambers of Light. It is here that all the memories of my brothers past as well as mine are shown. I have shown you these images because I fear something is troubling you Sora. Is there?", said Victor's voice eerily. Sora then paused and said, "Well yes there is. On our last adventure you know with our fight with Ceir. I just couldn't help thinking about Z-Man. I must have lost it killing the guy." "Tell me this Sora. What is it about Z-Man that's got you all worked up and all? You two barely knew each other let alone got along. He was part of my hooded entourage. So why would you care for such a wimp? What's so significant about killing a man like him?", Victor asked. "I killed him that's why. I took an innocent life. I committed a heinous act. How could I live with myself?" "Sora you must understand one thing and one thing only. You should never let your actions be your guide in life. They only make things worse, trust me I know. But you should also know this. You didn't kill Z-Man. He was never alive to begin with. He was just a data enhanced biological organism created by my older brother to challenge you in a fight and serve me in my plans.", Victor said.

Sora then asked, "What? So he's never been an actual person, but some sick little science project?" "That's right. We simply tested you on the basis of whether you had what it took to fight the battles you had to. Ceir or Z-Man was designed for evil just to get you thinking so too were all of my hooded entourage. But you must remember: death by hands of light ensures the defense of innocence. I too killed someone as a child Sora. I was shunned because of it. I matured at a much faster rate than my youthful generation and surpassed them in every way. I became powerful and then the unthinkable happened. I left my home in Calgary along with all of my brothers. From that point on I soon became interested in Darkness itself. I longed to control it and control it I did. I used it against all of the enemies I had as well as itself. But at a price, I gave up my innocence so that others could survive. It wasn't until after we traveled to the Eternal Beyond that my brothers and I got reverted back to our previous states when we were in Calgary.", Victor replied. Sora asked, "That's quite a story you got there, but what does it have to do with me though?" "From what I've researched the same time I defeated the great Captain Hero in Edmonton was the same time a 'great disaster' occurred in your universe. It would make sense since it started to rain on that day in Edmonton and I felt a great evil presence everywhere when I did so.", Victor replied. Sora paused and then thought to himself, "Great disaster?" Victor continued, "The point is though in the midst of all darkness and hopelessness you must not lose your ideals no matter the cost. I almost did and it could have cost me. Now wake up Sora!!"

Sora asked, "What?" He slowly opened his eyes and low and behold Victor was clapping his hands above his face saying, "Wake up!!" He rose up, yawned and stretched his arms and nearly made Victor lose his balance. As Sora woke up, he smiled the second he saw Victor and whispered to him, "Thanks a bunch Victor. You're a good friend." As Sora brought himself on his feet and Mike and Chris took out their laptops to get their bearings, Henry and Kairi were looking at him suspiciously. Victor shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What?" They shook their heads and said in unison, "Nothing!" as they sat down on the cold cool grass of the dense thick forest they landed in. As the group looked around they saw a giant ship along the coast and decided to go and investigate. Mike examined the ships that looked quite foreign. They weren't European and stood over fifteen feet high. They had engines on the back of each one and their purple wooden masts stretched to the heavens. Mike then said, "These ships look familiar, but I'm not sure where I've seen them." There was a tiny rustle in some of the tall dark bushes and then Mickey said, "I hear something coming from the forest. I'm going to go check it out. Anyone wanna come with me?" Victor whispered into Henry's left ear, "May as well go Henry. This is your big chance to show what kind of a man you can be." Henry then asked slightly frightened, "Are you sure? I heard someone laughing menacingly in the deep thickets where Mickey was standing." Victor put his right hand on his right shoulder and then said, "You got to be brave little one. No matter the outcome, no matter the challenges you must face it with embracement. Got it?" Henry nodded and then Victor hugged the little boy with a strong grip. He then held his arms and knelt down to his level (sine he's not quite 5"0 as most boys are really short at preteen ages and sometimes (rarely) at 13) and said, "I'm training you to be a warrior Henry. That means you must be strong even when I'm not around to protect you. Besides you got Mickey, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy with you to protect you." Henry then looked to the ground and said in a little sad voice, "Okay."

(Prepare yourselves folks. I'd advise listening to the music inside Yen Sid's tower when Sora gets his new set of clothes and Goofy, Donald and the fairies are like OMG that's Sora!! And some fairy's like oh my he really is dashing isn't he? It'll go well with it.)

Victor then thought to himself, 'Poor little guy. All his life he wanted to see a hero and wanted to be like me or the guy in the legends. Looks like I'll have to play along if this kid's gonna learn anything.' Victor then put a whistle inside Henry's left pocket and as the boy stared at his pockets, Victor then replied, "It's a special whistle Henry. I found it in the Gobi Valley oddly enough and I want you to have it. Consider it a gift and a way to call me when danger crawls your way." Henry nodded with his eyes soon beginning to glow as he saw Victor give him a thin grey sword and as Victor did, Henry transformed into a grey knight. The entire group of people looked at the newly made warrior and then gasped. Henry wore the exact same type of armour as Sora, Mickey, Riku and Victor wore except it was grey in colour and the sword he wielded looked a little longer than the other swords. Henry was also a little taller with the armour on him making him about 5"2. Mike then took out his cell phone and said looking Henry, "Looks like one size fits all applies to this too doesn't it Vic?" Victor nodded and said, "No doubt about Mike. I do believe we've found ourselves a warrior in training." As Henry sliced the air with his new weapon he saw smoke brush by with each slash. Victor then said as Henry put his sword into his case, "Now Henry. That sword is very special. Like the keyblade Sora wields, you can call your sword back to you matter what. It also holds extreme power in the midst of it as well. Make no mistake, you will have to fight a lot of enemies and face many perilous situations. Do you think you're up for the challenge?" As Henry stared at his new friends smiling and giving him a pat on the back as they circled in on him, he replied smiling and looking at Victor, "I'm ready whenever you are." The group then raised Henry above the ground and lifted him high into the air and caught him twice in their strong arms. Mike then took Chris and opened up a portal. Mike then replied, "Chris and I have a few things to clear up. I got a reading on my cell phone. Counter Strike Planet has been invaded. Do you think you can handle things here Vic?" Victor replied nodding, "You go do what you have to do Mike. If anything happens it'll be up to me to play hero here." Mike then nodded and ran into the portal as did Chris along with him.

Victor then ran off into the dark woods saying he would go and scout the area while Mickey led the rest of the group to where he heard the strange noises. The group then rushed into the forest not knowing what to expect in the large thick tree covered forest. Mickey then heard some laughing coming from the east and he brushed away various branches and pretty soon he along with the rest of the group found a group of black armoured men from head to toe with a man in a black hooded suit talking to a tied up native girl in a central part of the forest that wasn't covered in thick forest trees or brush. Mickey took a good close look and then whispered to the group, "This doesn't look to good. They got Pocahontas." Sora asked, "Who's she?" Mickey then replied, "About ten years ago, when I was Yen Sid's apprentice, I was sent here to rescue this world from the 'great disaster' that had happened two years before. There wasn't a whole lot I could do, but eventually I did save this world. The chief of Pocahontas' tribe made me promise I would protect Pocahontas with my life." Riku then said, "I wonder who that guy in the hood is?" Kairi then said, "If you boys don't keep quiet we'll never know. Now shush." As she pointed to the hooded man, He put his hand underneath Pocahontas' chin and said smugly, "Oh come my dear. You know that eventually we will find it. Now I'm only going to ask you one more time. Where's the Destiny Crest?"

Pocahontas bit his hand and as the man yelled and drew it back, Pocahontas said, "The spirits will never tell. They despise vermin and darkness. The spirits will hunt you down if you don't return me to my home at once." Then the hooded man said, "You know I really don't like resorting to violence, but you leave me no choice…" As Sora looked over his shoulder to Henry he saw Mickey wasn't around and then asked Riku, "Hey Riku, have you seen the King?" Riku shook his head and then Sora thought, 'Oh no he wouldn't!!' The hooded man pulled out a long whip, and as he was about to scratch Pocahontas with it, it was slammed to the ground out of his hands, by a small mouse wielding a keyblade.

The hooded man said staring at Mickey who stared at the hooded man mad, "I should have known you would be here your majesty. I see things haven't changed one bit." Mickey transformed into his armoured self and said untying the ropes Pocahontas was strapped in, "Nope. Things sure don't Duffleburgin." As the group rushed into the centre of the commotion and transformed into their armoured forms and took out their keyblades and swords (Kairi of course getting a pink sword and that keyblade Riku gave her in KH II), above on the high cliffs overlooking the large river of the forest was another hooded man watching Mickey confronting Duffleburgin. He then said, "So the King is here too. And the boy wields the keyblade too. Such tenacity. Such strength. I haven't seen its kind since…" He stared at Sora who transformed into his armour and then imagining seeing Roxas and said, "It can't be…" the hooded man put his hands towards his eyes and brushed them and said, "It couldn't be. I even saw Master Xehanort myself. He was frozen in a thick block of the coldest universal ice. How is it possible?" The hooded man then saw another hooded man appear from a dark portal beside him and said, "We're wasting time here. Mike's already back on Counter Strike Planet. If he gets to the capital before we do, Operation Puritan will be a bust." The hooded man nodded and as the man beside him entered inside and as he was about to do the same he looked back at the youth in golden armour and said, "Take care Ven. I don't know how you're alive, but nevertheless good luck. For both our sakes, you have to be." He then walked into the dark portal and it closed up right behind him.

(I think I didn't do too bad on this recent entry, but then again that's for you guys to decide though. I apologize for the long wait, but I was busy with school and various stuff and didn't have a lot of time on my hands. I'll see how the weekend looks for me, but I'll work to get more chapters up if I can.)

(Next Time: The Destiny Crest)

(Review.)


	8. Chapter 7

**The Destiny Crest**

Victor kept on searching through the thick dark parts of the forest and then found a ring lying in the nearby river. It was silver and at its centre was a sapphire. But what the true meaning of this gem was, still lay a mystery. Even as Victor held it in his fingertips up towards the shining sun he thought, 'Very interesting. So this is the famous Destiny Crest. No wonder those hooded guys are looking all over the universe for these things. I'd better find the gang and round them up.' "Leaving so soon." Victor turned around and low and behold he saw a figure in a black cape. The man had blonde hair, his skin was pale and white, his clothing was very dark bluish in colour. He was about six feet tall and he had a dark aura about him. His boots were black with a grey skull on each boot and his gloves were grey with bats as symbols covering his knuckles. He also had a purple masquerade mask on his face that curved at its ends to resemble bat wings. Victor smiled smugly and said, "Myotismon. I never thought you could actually come back to life. I mean you saw what Angewoman did to you and don't forget about back in the Digital World all those years ago." Myotismon raised his cape and yelled Crimson Lightning. As he did he jumped in the air and launched a large whip of red light towards Victor who took out his transparent sword of light and then sliced it into a million pieces.

"Oh come now!! You can't expect to beat me like that can you?" Myotismon then said, "If I were you, I would give over the Destiny Crest now boy!!" "Or else what? You'll actually fight for real? You know what's really sad is? You villains keep on getting sadder and sadder every day. You try to achieve the same little goals you seek out to do, but you always fail. Speaking of which, how in the world did you get here anyway? I thought only a selective few of mortals, data like yourself, and fate chosen could leave their home worlds and travel the universe." Myotismon then teleported and kicked Victor to the ground, but before he could grab the Destiny Crest, Victor used his Light powers to speed up and grab it. Myotismon then teleported in front of Victor and then created a dark portal behind him. He then continued, "Does that answer your question? Now then listen well boy. You and I have unfinished business to take care of and since you too can go into the worlds, tell those little pests of yours that we'll only keep on coming and coming until every hero is all defeated." Victor then thought for a moment and said, "So you're part of the Squadron I take it?" Myotismon nodded and said, "The Lord as he calls himself knew why we suffered and also requested that in exchange for helping him, we'd have our revenge on our enemies. That means in my case those pesky Digidestined." Victor tried to close his mouth for as long as he could, but couldn't help, but laugh. Myotismon then growled and yelled, "Might I ask what's so funny?" Victor continued, "You're really a sucker for punishment aren't you? This Lord you're talking about has no need for guys like you and I guarantee he won't keep his end of the bargain. Mark my words Myotismon, he will kill you." Myotismon then disappeared into the portal and Victor then thought to himself as the portal closed, 'I'd better go warn Tai and Kari about this. Oh man, this is déjà vu all over again. I mean what is this? A family reunion?' Victor then heard the sound of grunting coming from the woods and ran off into the thickets.

As Mickey stared down the hooded man, he looked all around him and saw an army of hooded men as well circling them. Mickey then said, "I guess some dogs never learn new tricks do they Duffleburgin?" The hooded man tore up his hooded suit to reveal a hedgehog no bigger than Mickey himself. He was black from head to toe, his shoes were white with black soles underneath, his hair like fur had grey linings, wore white gloves as well as white rings around each glove and each shoe he wore, had a white set of spoofed up fur on his chest, and his eyes were green like that of emeralds. Mickey gasped and then said, "Wait a minute!! You mean to tell me that the guy I fought with all those years ago was…" "A simple hedgehog from the Land of the Chaos Emeralds. It has been so. Thanks to Sonic however, I shouldn't even exist. It was so perfect. I became Solaris and could have ruled all. No. It was all too perfect. It was thanks to that boy. That same boy who helped his friends find the chaos emeralds. (Play Sonic the hedgehog for ps3 since some of the facts laid before you are in that game.)" Sora looked to everyone else and they all just shrugged. The grey hedgehog then said, "Regardless, I've got my orders. Attack my minions!!" From each hooded man came copies and copies of the hedgehog himself and they began to float in mid-air as did the grey hedgehog himself as well. He also began to glow purple.

"I hope you're ready your majesty. Because I'm looking for a re-match. Hahahahahaha." The hedgehogs then began to charge at the group in the thousands as the hedgehog powered himself up and began to created hundreds of copies of himself. Sora slashed twenty, Riku ran towards a tree with many of them right behind him and did a 'wall jump' behind them and slashed them in mid-air. Henry ran towards hedgehog himself and then jumped in the air to stab his heart, but was intercepted by one of his copies. The copy then picked Henry up and threw him to the ground hard. The hedgehog then teleported towards the boy and then said picking him up at the armour, "Why we need you just for some silly door I'll never know. Either way you're coming with me kid!!!" Henry then yelled as he struggled, "Never. Let go of me!!" As he struggled in the hedgehog's arms to set himself free. The copies began to overrun the group and slowly Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi were clumped together in one short group. Mickey meanwhile holding off forty guys at once, blew them away with his Sword of Balance and his keyblade and then saw the grey hedgehog holding Henry to his right and Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi getting overpowered to his left. Sora kicked one guy, grabbed another guy by his face and quickly stabbed him and then karate flipping another guy behind him. Riku even slashed a guy that tried to grab onto Kairi and said holding off another hedgehog copy, "There's too many of them. We gotta get out of here." Sora then asked, "Where? There's nowhere else to go. We're surrounded."

Mickey then looked right, left, right and then left again. 'How do I get into these situations anyhow? Oh well.' Mickey quickly charged with his weapons and slashed the copies of the hedgehog surrounding the gang on the left. Sora said, "Thanks. You're a life saver." The hedgehog was floating towards the sky with Henry in hand, but before anyone could react to this, a boy in a white hooded suit teleported and grabbed Henry. Henry's eyes brightened as he yelled, "Victor!! You came!!" Victor then pulled off his helmet and said smiling, "What can I say? You're like a little brother to me. And brothers stick together. Looks like more déjà vu all over again, eh Mephiles?" As the entire group looked at the hedgehog and then he laughed considerably and said, "So you're the pesky insolent fool that defeated me a few months ago. How perceptive. I would have never thought that a mere child could handle the likes of the darkness. Tell me Victor, how does it feel to have such great power in your grasp?" Sora then yelled, "You've got nerve!! You tie up an innocent girl, try to attack us and kidnap our friend Henry and now you're trying to taunt us?" Victor then said, "Let it go Sora. Mephiles is a coward. He like the rest of this little groupie they call a gang are nothing, but cowards!!" Mephiles then snapped his fingers and a dark portal appeared behind him. He then said, "That's right foolish boy. Let the hate flow through your mind. Let your anger spew out of your gullet." As Mephiles disappeared into the dark portal, Sora ran and jumped towards him, but went right through him.

Mephiles then said in his final words, "We shall meet again, boy!! I guarantee we shall!!"Moments after they untied Pocahontas, the group sat down and listened to every word Victor had to say about his encounter with the Destiny Crest and Myotismon. Victor apparently faced this enemy over nine years ago with a bunch of kids around his age who had data like friends called Digimon. Long story short they won the fight with a few close calls and sacrifice along the way. Even with Mephiles, Victor faced him as well with Shadow and Dr. Eggman with Sonic as well as Iblis and Solaris with Silver and all the hedgehogs together in the kingdom of Soleanna. Victor then went on to say that the Destiny Crests were a set of eight rings created by the Kings and Queens of Saryu, Terraneus, Ailiana, and Sanshobi in order to seal off a 'great monster' that used to terrorize their planets eons ago. If the rings were ever brought together, it would surely mean the resurrection of the beast and the doom of the universe as a whole. The Destiny Crests also had a distinct power that was not like that of the powers within the keyblade. Unlike the keyblade, the Destiny Crests did not unlock peoples' and worlds' hearts, but could unlock souls of the living and the deceased. "With that kind of power, there's no telling what the Squadron could do if they got one of these bad boys!!" As Victor passed it around to the group, Pocahontas then said, "Now that you mention it, my tribe did see another hooded man on the cliffside a couple of days ago with one of those. He said he was going off to a world they call, the Under Sea Dome." Victor then gasped and said, "Oh no!! I'm too late then after all." Sora then said grabbing hold of Victor's broad left shoulder, "There's still time to get there Victor. Plus we have a Destiny Crest. That means we're sure to face them anyhow so we'll just take it from them." Victor then shook his head and said, "It's not that simple Sora. These rings are really powerful. We would have to destroy the possessor of the ring in order to claim it. The rings are so powerful that they simply latch on to their master until he has no desire of possessing them and those guys won't give them up so easily." Pocahontas then said, "Here take this. It's the least I could do for you all since you saved my life." Sora was handed a whistle and as he blew it a white portal appeared and Victor snapped his fingers and said, "Perfect. With that whistle we can go to any world we want to. Can I count on you to take care of it Sora?" Sora nodded and then Pocahontas said, "I wish I could be of more assistance, but I have to go back to my home now. My father's most likely really worried by now." Mickey then walked towards Pocahontas and then smiled saying, "My have you grown. I remember the very first day I came here and your father made me swear to protect you no matter what. I just never thought so much time could pass by so quick." As the group entered inside the portal, Victor stood outside and then said, "Not to be a pain, but we have some business to take care of, if that's alright." Mickey turned facing Victor and then turned to Pocahontas and continued, "Take care now, ya hear. And once you see your father, tell him I said Hi will you Pocahontas?" The girl nodded and soon enough, they were off on inside the portal.

Meanwhile inside the Squadron's HQ, Mephiles and Myotismon were bowing before 'The Lord' in the main throne room of the building as a testament for mercy in their time of failure. "So I see both of you failed me. Myotismon, you failed to bring me the Destiny Crest and Mephiles you failed to bring me the boy. I swear you're both lucky I don't end your miserable lives right now!!", The Lord said punching a piece of his chair as the top half fell to floor. Myotismon then replied, "I have failed oh great one, but if you give me a second chance I know I will not let you down!!" Then a laughter appeared. A tall green being with a giant cone like helmet on his head, an insect like body, and a muscular like physique then said, "You both couldn't even fight your way out of a paper bag!!" Mephiles then replied to the comment, "Perhaps that can be arranged for your funeral Cell!!" "Enough!! All of you!! You work for me now!! So long as you all are under my wing, you do as I command. Mephiles you will take the southern quadrant of the universe and Myotismon will take the north." As Mephiles and Myotismon disappeared into dark portals, Cell then appeared in front of the Lord on his throne and then bowed down asking, "What would you ask of me to do then oh master?" "I have a special job for you Cell!!" Then Cell was transported to another location inside the main HQ of the Squadron.

(Well I did say there would be crossovers so there ya go. Just a tiny taste of what's in store.)

(Next Time: Competition at its Worst.)

(Review.)


	9. Chapter 8

**Competition at its Worst**

**Flashback**

"It seemed like an eternity since I had known what compassion was. When I was at the "Training Academy" I knew that even though I was liked by all, no one wanted anything to do with me. I was an outcast in the very place my parents sent me to become like the rest of the kids my age and to gain confidence. Yet there was this one kid I met the other day that really was a nice guy. His name's Torahne. It's odd, but I've only known him for as little as a day and yet I feel a strange bond with him. He's very nice to me, and he's good a bunch of sports like hockey, soccer, football, you name it. I wouldn't change anything about him. No doubt, he's my best friend.", Victor said talking to his training teacher. Victor was no older than age five and wore similar clothes to that of Sora when he was a kid. He wore a pair of blue shorts, a white shirt and his cheeks were as puffy as those on a chipmunk's face. The teacher was at least six feet tall, very thin to the point where he looked like a tooth pick, and resembled that of Claude Frollo except his robes were white instead of purple (like that of the Disney version of Claude Frollo). The teacher responded, "How very interesting my child. So it would appear that you and this boy are quite a good pair, are you not?" Victor nodded and then the teacher took out a long stick (like one of those sticks they use out in the countryside to get people to pay attention) and smacked the dark chalkboard of the gym as hard as the stick could muster. The teacher overlooked the tiny little boy in his warm short sleeved shirt and pants and said, "Very good then. So I see that Torahne isn't a bad boy after all." Victor's eyes began to water and then he asked, "How do you know about him? What did you do to him?" The teacher knelt down beside the young boy about to burst into tears and held him at the shoulder (same way Victor did to Henry). The teacher held the boy and embraced him with as much concern as he could. 

"There there. Your little friend is in no danger. You can be sure of that. I promised each of your parents that I would take care of you boys and I intend to do so." The teacher patted Victor on the back as he held the male instructor of his close and cried his little heart out. This would be one of many tragedies for Victor to overcome. He just didn't know at the time.

**Present**

Victor slowly opened his eyes and noticed that he was on the ground, nearly out of energy and what was worse hungry and cold. He looked around and noticed no one else beside him. Sora, Henry, Riku, and everyone that was with him had vanished. As he stumbled on his feet, he noticed a letter with a bright red stamp on his lap. He opened it up and it read:

"Greetings Victor,

The Squadron has been very tedious in their little engagement with your brothers. I guess seeing as how you're all so powerful, we'd like to make a wager. You obviously notice by now that your friends are nowhere to be found. Well that's because they're in the Digital World with me you little scoundrel. All of your little friends are with me, which also includes those pesky Digidestined. I'd advise that you come alone (not that that would be hard to do as of yet). If you wish for your little comrades safety to be ensured you'd best come at once.

Anonymous"

Victor looked around and noticed that the ground he was on was covered in immense jungle and trees. The jungle paradise spread across the entire island and Victor noticed that at the centre of the island was a giant, treacherous, never ending spiraling mountain in the centre of it as well. The sky became as cloudy as the cliffs of the British Isles do during a foggy storm. As Victor ran through the thickets and jumped from tree top to tree top heading towards the mountain, he thought 'File Island. I should have known as much. This place hasn't changed a bit.' Victor then finally reached the mountain and as he began climbing the treacherous, let alone steep and Everest-high cliffs he noticed a few people chained up together in a grey dark and damp cage out cold and exhausted from hunger and starvation. It was Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Mickey. 'Well that's six of them, but where's…' As Victor turned around he noticed a group of four men in hooded suits standing in mid-air staring at him. They landed on a cliff ledge below him and thus he followed. "What do you guys want with us? I swear this whole "power" thing is getting way too much out of hand you know.", Victor said.

"Who ever said this was about power, boy?", said the man to Victor's far left. "We're here on business and we intend to do so." , said the man to his far right. Victor then summoned his swords and slashed each of the hooded suits to reveal some familiar faces old and evil. From left to right he noticed them all: Devimon on his far right. The first of many evil digimon the Digidestined had faced before as their very start to their adventure. His dark figure and chill cold red eyes made the rest of his body seem like trash. The one next to him was Etemon. A style Elvis-wannabe, Etemon was the second foe that the Digidestined had faced when trying to get back to the real world and unfortunately had to put up with his severe taste in music and conceitedness. The one next to him was Myotismon, a vampire-like digimon that had once nearly destroyed the Digidestined before twice, but always had failed due to a miracle of fate. The last of the hooded men was Piedmon, a clown like digimon. His half black half white mask made him seem like one of the more supreme of all digimon, but to a lesser extent in his position at present.

Piedmon then chuckled and said, "So then I see you walked straight into our trap then hmm? So why then did you do it Victor?" Etemon then babbled his heart out saying, "Yeah you little punk, tell us. You know as well as I do that you wouldn't be that stupid in a million years to fall for something so obvious." Victor stared at the cage above him one cliffside and teleported towards it and freed Sora and the others and noticed that the original Digidestined were in there with them: Tai, Matt, T.K., Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Joe, and Kari were all tied up and then as the four major villainous digimon foes landed on the cliff ledge he was on. Victor then said, "I made a promise to them that's why. The MVC is supposed to protect those who can't protect themselves. That means that if one hero falls, another comes to finish the job." Myotismon laughed out of pity and said, "You naïve little fool. Don't you know that honor, courage, loyalty and all of those foolish ideals you take after are useless. Those little fools actually tried to stop us while you were unconscious." Victor then gasped and then he continued, "Wait a minute!! You mean that you guys intercepted the portal and…" Devimon then said, "Sent you to our world? Yes we did. The Lord commanded us to. The moment you all arrived you landed unconscious. Apparently you used up more energy than you had when you went through it. That whistle was exquisite until we destroyed it that is. Hahahahaha." Victor then yelled and exclaimed, "You guys are going to regret the day you ever crossed my path. Now I'm going to take all of you down. I could literally beat all of you three times over." All four of them soon disappeared and in their place was a tall looking boy. His skin was tan, eyes were green, his hair was dark brunette like that of Mike, he wore a white shirt, brown running shoes and a blue set of beat up looking jeans. He stood there and as he looked at Victor, he gave him a cheerful smile and waved to him. There were at least two holes on the pair of pants: one on the knee cap and one along the thigh. Victor gasped and then dropped his swords. As they disappeared he then said, "No… No freakin' way!! Torahne!! But how?" Torahne walked towards the youth as he dropped to his knees and then picked him right up. Torahne smiled confidently and hugged Victor as tightly as Victor slowly began to cry on his shoulders. Torahne then said, "It has been a long time hasn't it?" Victor wiped his tears and stepped back putting one arm around his neck in embarrassment saying, "Well…I guess." Piedmon then appeared behind Victor and as he turned around, Torahne pushed Victor out of the way and was brutally attacked by his trump swords. Victor noticed this and as he saw his old friend fall to the ground, he then clenched his fists hard and teleported towards the overly dressed clown and slashed his clothes. Piedmon then teleported as well and threw his trump swords towards Victor.

As Victor fell to the ground clenching his teeth and holding his stomach, Piedmon laughed and then said standing up, "Such a foolish attempt by a foolish boy. You actually let your emotions get the better of you. Oh come now Victor. That isn't like you at all. At least, not the Victor I used to know as the one who defeated me all those years ago." As Piedmon knelt beside his weakened foe he then whispered into the boy's left ear saying, "To think, that boy who just saved your life, is also the one that you all call Xehanort." Victor then grabbed his sword and slashed at Piedmon's legs and then as he stood in mid-air he said, "Don't get all cranky with me you little ingrate!! It's not our problem that the boy wanted power. He chose of his free will to come and learn how to be the best of the best. He was made fun of as a child. He wanted to be respected, loved and cared for. We digimon offered what little we could to satisfy his needs. Everyone did." Victor then glared at Piedmon and teleported towards him and smashed him into the centre of File Island. As a crater soon formed around the spot Piedmon landed in, Victor then said, "You made him do this Piedmon. All of you guys did. I know Torahne better than this. He's not evil. He wasn't born evil. No one is. You guys influenced him and by the time graduation day came we fought for the last time and he disappeared from my life for what seemed like forever on that day."

Piedmon then jumped out of the rocky chasm he was in and then responded on the cliffs below, "Why don't you ask him that? That is of course if he ever does get up. Hahahahahahaha." Piedmon then disappeared again, just as the group started to awaken. Victor then noticed another cage on the ledge Piedmon was on. He opened it up and low and behold it was a green haired boy who lay unconscious as well. Victor soon picked him up and jumped to the ledge on the bottom. Sora (KH Sora that is) then yelled in happiness, "Victor!! Thanks. You saved us!!" Victor then said handing Sora Henry, "Look after him for a little bit. I've got a friend to save." Sora then noticed the dark haired boy on the ground and Victor flipped him over to see what damage was caused. He asked, "What's this all about?" Victor replied, "No time to explain. It doesn't look to bad. He was just knicked on his lower side near his left kidney. It doesn't look like Piedmon even did that much damage to him." Sora then thought, 'So that's what those guys called themselves.' As Victor tried to awaken his unconscious friend, Sora then had a flashback of his own.

**Flashback**

As Sora and the others soon arrived from the white portal, they noticed Victor lay on the ground unconscious. Mickey tried to do whatever he could to get him back on his feet while Sora and Riku and the others pondered as to where they were. Goofy then said, "You know I recall the King talking about this place once before. It's like Tron's and Nevin's worlds. They call it the Digital World." Sora then asked, "The Digital World?" Kairi then said, "Well whatever it is, this place sure is peaceful." Riku then said, "The important thing is that we get Victor back on his feet and whistle our way to the Under Sea Dome." Then a voice said, "Perhaps we can assist." Then as Sora pulled out his whistle, it broke into a million pieces, He then said, "Hey why did you do that?" The group then noticed four hooded men standing in mid-air and then Donald asked, "Why do I get the feeling they're not here for a telegram?" The hooded man on the far right said, "Oh we don't have telegrams, but we do have stories. Here's one. Once upon a time there were five kids and three talking animals. Then the Squadron defeated them. The End." Riku then drew out his keyblade as did Kairi and Sora and Mickey. Donald pulled out his staff and Goofy pulled out his shield and Henry pulled out his sword as everyone, excluding Donald and Goofy, transformed into their armoured selves. Sora then said, "You really need to work on your story telling buddy. That last part could use a little work." As they ran towards the hooded men, they confidently awaited their attacks and in the thickets was a tall dark figure in a white shirt and a blue set of jeans with two holes in them.

**Present**

(That's going to do it for this chapter so far. This is how I supposedly think that the whole mystery of Xehanort goes. There's obviously been some names given for him without the 'X' like "No Heart" or "Another". In my mind I could easily believe all of this if it weren't for the fact that he's able to wield the keyblade. No one, but a random selected few (keyword few) could wield them. (Roxas doesn't count because he is Sora's nobody and is an exception) So in other words Xehanort would have had to have been human as we all know long before the fight with the 'knights' or the 'chasers' if that's what they are. The way I see it, only those with a heart can wield the keyblades just as in Digimon only children could make digimon digivolve (try saying that ten times). Henceforth why Torahne has been introduced.)

(Next Time: The Counterstrike Attack.)

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	10. Chapter 9

**The Counterstrike Attack**

(Note: this has absolutely nothing to do with Counterstrike, but it's sort of like a cameo about the game because of the city like mood.)

As Mike and Chris arrived at their destination on Counterstrike Planet, Chris asked, "Where do you think those ring thingies or whatever they are, are at?" Mike shook his head and said, "Just about anywhere Chris. Which is why propose we split up. We'll cover more ground and maybe I can finally get to the bottom of all of this. I suggest you take the north side since there's not a lot of commotion going on there. I'll take the south and rendezvous back at the police station in the central part of the area." Chris nodded and then before either of them knew it, were being watched by two hooded men as they began to split up and find their own way on the dark city streets. The hooded men then disappeared and everything seemed quiet on the black, Gotham like capital.

One blast. Two blasts. Three blasts. Mike as a fighter was very efficient and quick on his feet. As he ran towards the tall black office looking tower, man thousands of hooded men appeared and took out tiny pistols and tried firing at the lone warrior. Mike ducked and within a split millisecond changed the cartridge on his 'mega-blaster' machine gun and took out another 'mega-blaster' and began firing everywhere clockwise. After about thirty seconds, the guards got smarter and started to bring out large bulldozer looking tanks that trampled the many streets of the Capital on the Counterstrike Planet. Mike jumped into the air and pulled the pins out of thirty grenades and dropped them to the ground. Within five seconds the entire block was completely eradicated of all men and machines. As Mike landed to the ground and brushed of his pants, he heard a faint clapping in the distance to his left. Past many intersections and half destroyed buildings was a lone warrior in a brown hooded suit. He teleported towards Mike and then said, "Bravo my boy. You truly are the most powerful of the MVC. No doubt you are also the most strategic are you not?" Mike backflipped two feet and then asked, "Who wants to know?" The man in the brown hooded suit pulled down his hood to reveal a man who resembled that of Saïx from long ago in the World that Never Was. Mike then said, "So you're the one who started the battle on this world didn't you?" The brown hooded man said, "Yes, I admit it. I did start the battle on this particular world. My six other associates on the other hand are waging wars on other worlds besides this one as well. As for 'The Lord', he doesn't even need to lift a finger since we're usually done the job quick and painlessly."

Mike then asked, "So why us then? Is it just for power? Because I got to tell you, this a new low even for you guys." The Saïx looking man smiled and then continued, "It's a lot more than just power we're after my boy. For you see, I am the right hand man of 'The Lord' and the leader of his Squadron generals. All of which do not possess souls." "So you're going around worlds collecting souls and harnessing their very abilities and powers to make yourselves part of the living then?", Mike asked. The hooded man nodded and said, "From the living, we too can taste and breathe the breath of life. Once we possess all eight of the Destiny Crests, we shall be invincible." Mike then said, "So that's what you guys are calling these ring do-dads." Mike then pulled out a black looking ring, similar to the one Victor found on Pocahontas' world and the hooded man then replied, "Impressive. The MVC never did cease to amaze me. You're all so powerful, unique, and unstoppable. You even managed to defeat the great Osumaster as a child. I admit you have my respect."

Mike then took out his 'mega-blasters' and asked, "Are we here to chat, or are we here to fight?" "Direct too. I like that. I was going to ask for the Destiny Crest, but why not? A little sparing never hurts." The Saïx looking man took out a two guns of his own resembling Submachine guns from our modern era. The two fighters ran to the nearest cover they could find and took stealthy sniper shots at each other at first, but then dropped their guns and focused on mainly fist fighting instead. Mike punched the hooded man straight in the stomach, but the man nicked Mike straight in the left side of his face. Mike then raised his fist above his head and smacked the man hard from above the ground. The Saïx looking man kicked Mike's left leg to counterbalance him and uppercut him, but Mike teleported and side kicked him underneath. Mike then punched the man again and sent him flying over twenty feet away. Even as Mike walked forwards, the man didn't get up or even seemed to try. Mike then asked, "Had enough yet?" The hooded man then said spitting out blood and wiping his left cheek, "I'm just getting started." Mike seemed to have the upper hand as of that moment. Yet the hooded man grabbed Mike's 'mega-blaster' and Mike grabbed his Submachine gun and both were aimed towards their faces in split milliseconds. Mike then asked, "Care to tell me your name anyway, so as I know who will die here today?" The hooded man then smugly said, "The name's Ryolo. Remember that so as when we face each other next time." Ryolo then threw a smoke bomb on the ground and fled with his life. Mike could've easily caught up with him in the densely foggy and cold streets of Counterstrike Planet, but went easy on him and gave him some time to recover. It was a sign of respect for his enemy and was shown especially in the fight when he didn't fire a shot straight into his face.

Chris meanwhile although was successful at getting another one of the destiny crests, this time it was brown, was once again confronted by one of the hooded men. This time though, he was in a silver hooded suit. Chris then said, "Out of the way. You're blocking my view of the police station." "No can do kid. You have something I want and I'm not leaving until you give me the Destiny Crest." Chris then put the ring in his pocket and said, "If you want it you'll have to fight me for it." As Chris engaged himself in a classic 'put-up' your dukes fight with the silver hooded man, he simply used pschokinesis and took the ring right out of his little hands without even having to lay a hand on the little kid. "Finally its mine." Mike then appeared and kicked the ring out of his hand and said, "No its not." As the hooded man regained the strength in his hand, he then chuckled and said, "I guess you guys really are weak if you have to rely on each other for survival. I don't even see why I should bother fighting you punks. I mean I'm powerful enough as is." Mike then said, "Really. I guess that explains how you had to use pschokinesis to get the ring away from my little brother instead of fighting him like a man then." The silver hooded man disappeared and then Mike and Chris helped the construction crew get to their destinations to start rebuilding the demolished city. As Mike then opened up a black portal, Chris then asked, "Do you think Henry and those other guys are doing alright." Mike then stared into the portal and said, "They do have Victor with them and he's a tough cookie. But I guess a little peak can't hurt." So Mike and Chris then finally went inside the portal and as they did, a black hooded suited man oversaw this on the rooftops with his arms crossed and in silence. He then took out a piece of paper and as he read it, it said:

'To Do list: 1. Find Mike.

2. Get the Destiny Crests.

3. Summon the Insidious One.

4. Get the Oracle of Destiny.

5. Take power from the MVC.'

He then checked off #1 on the list and then snapped his fingers and summoned his own portal and left right into it.

Who knows what this guy is let alone who is as well? Will he succeed in his goals on the To Do list? Will Mike and Chris manage to get to Victor and the others in time? Tune in to next KH The Eternal Beyond.

(Next Time: Torahne's Past)

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	11. Chapter 10

**Torahne's Past**

(Note: For this chapter (if at all possible) you might want to listen to the music used in KH 2 when Sora's memories were starting to return to him. It really fits quite well with the flashbacks about to occur.)

**Flashback**

"I really don't know about this. Why would you want to be friends with him, Victor?", asked one of the students at the Training Academy. The kid was a small tike like Victor, his hair was messy and red and his short sleeved clothes were all sweaty from the long jogging they had recently done a few minutes ago. As Victor took out a towel from the towel rack in the boy's locker room, and wiped his face and hair, he then said, "Torahne's a cool guy. I don't really see a problem with him. He's good at soccer, has the funniest jokes that anyone's ever heard, and he even bought me an ice cream cone at Canteen too. Why wouldn't you like him Todd?" Todd blinked his green eyes once in mere confusion and then replied, "Listen Vic, I know you're misunderstood and all, but you got to understand when I say this, Torahne doesn't have many buddies for a reason. When he first got here about two years ago, he beat up a guy and knocked his front teeth right out of him. Heck he even gave wedgies to a group of guys who coughed on his clothes."

Victor then took off his sweaty clothes and put on his classical white shirt and blue shorts. Victor then replied, "If you think about it Todd, you'll find that Torahne's a cool guy the way I've found it. I mean everyone's got some bad qualities to them. It's how you use those qualities that really define who you are or what you're going to turn out as when you get older." As Victor said this a group of big, tall tooth pick skinny guys smashed the locker behind Victor and then a blonde freckled guy at the centre of the group put his foot on the bench that Todd and Victor were sitting on and said overlooking Victor's right shoulder with his blue snide eyes, "You got a lot of nerve sitting on this 'ere bench squirt." Todd then got nervous and said, "Yeah, he's right. We should get out of here Victor." Victor clenched his hands on his knees and closed his eyes and the tall blonde then laughed and said, "Hey check this out guys. Looks like the squirt's about to cry. Wah wah I'm Victor. I'm so short. I'm so weak I can't even lift a barbell like the rest of the guys." Then out of the blue Victor shot out a punch right at the blonde guy's left eye. As he collapsed his entourage who were dressed in red sweaters and blue hip-hop jeans got a bucket of water and splashed it on the blonde guy in a black t-shirt and wrecked up jeans himself.

He coughed and said, "I'm hit nimrods, not unconscious." As he stood up with a purple shiner in his eye he stared at Victor who stood off the bench fists clenched and rearing to fight, he then said, "You got a lot of nerve little punk." Todd then ran up and grabbed Victor's arm and panicked, "You've done it now Vic. Now Clyde's really ticked off." Victor then replied, "Somebody has to tell it like it is Clyde. You have no friends either. The only reason you got those guys in their fancy band clothes is because you pay them to follow you. If your parents weren't so filthy rich you'd be alone on the streets. Am I hitting the ballpark on this one or shall I go on?" Clyde then smashed the bench so hard it split in two and Todd fainted when he saw what happened. He then said, "That's it small fry. I've had it with you. It's bad enough they had to accept a squirt like you into this school let alone that punk Torahne, but now you've crossed line." Although Victor was as brave as he could be, he still wasn't as strong as Clyde nor as tall as him. As Victor covered his face to embrace for impact and as Clyde shot his fist towards the boy, Victor heard a smack. When he uncovered his face it was a tall boy at the same height as Clyde being 2"4. He had brown hair, tan looking skin, and he wore a white shirt and a beat up pair of blue jeans. He then picked Clyde up by his arm and karate flipped him into the trashcan near the door just two feet away from the beat up bench. The tall brunette then stared at Clyde's four hip-hop looking entourage and asked cracking his knuckles, "Anyone want to be next?" They then crowded for the door and rushed on out as fast as they could. The tall brunette turned to face Victor and an unconscious Todd and Victor noticed the green eyes and said, "Torahne. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Torahne smiled and as Victor smiled back noticed Todd lying on the ground and got him to come to. Todd then asked, "What'd I miss?" Victor then said, "Not much Todd. Just that Torahne karate flipped Clyde into 'next week'." "Really?", he asked. As both Victor and Todd stared at Torahne in anticipation, he then shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What? He was going to pulverize you guys. Besides, Vic you were right about him. He's a no talent bully. To think his parents actually think he's a responsible guy huh? He can't even find his good pair of Nike shoes." Victor then smiled while closing his eyes and said, "I don't think he ever will."

Later, Victor, Torahne and Todd were in their large boot camp looking dorm eating some gushers and fruit-by-the-foot while relaxing on their bunks. Todd then said looking into Torahne's green eyes with his green eyes, "Listen Torahne, I'm sorry about doubting you. I guess it's just you have a lot of history as being the 'big guy on campus' that's all." Torahne raised his hand facing Todd's direction and said, "Think nothing of it Todd. I'm a kid like you and we need to stick together. Besides I would have done the same thing in your position." "Really?", Todd asked. "No.", came a weird reply from Torahne. As Todd got a sweat drop on the back of his head and turned red, then both Victor and Torahne laughed a little and Torahne said coming out from it, "I'm kidding sheesh. Victor, I like your friend, but he's got to loosen up a bit." Todd then frowned and raised his voice a little and asked, "What's that supposed to mean." Torahne then said, "Okay listen. I'm sorry if you got upset Todd. Trust me though. I have conversations like this with Vic all the time. It means I like ya." Todd then said twiddling his thumbs, "Okay." Then it was dead silent. Torahne then broke it saying, "He doesn't talk a lot does he Victor?" Victor then said, "Not really. He's always homesick like this all the time. His parents just left him here as a baby and hoped they wouldn't have to deal with raising him themselves." Todd then said, "I'm right here Vic. I can hear you." Torahne then took out a package of fruit-by-the-foot and turned his face around and scrunched the jelly like snack everywhere on his face and as he turned around he looked like Abe Lincoln. Victor laughed at his display of humor and said, "Man, what a waste of fruit-by-the-foot." Torahne then sarcastically said, "Oh really." He then turned his face again and then turned back again and he looked like a lion with the fruity colours representing a mane. Victor then said, "Todd, you got to see this. Torahne's nuts with this kind of stuff." Todd then looked at him and kinda giggled saying, "That is kinda funny." Then Todd looked away and buried his face into his legs. Torahne then looked at Vic who looked worried for his buddy and then Torahne ate the fruit-by-the-foot and put on his brown pair of shoes.

Torahne got off the top bunk that was above Vic on the bottom bunk and climbed up to Todd's bunk and sat down next to the kid. "You miss your parents don't ya?" Todd then said, "More than you'll ever know. I didn't even matter to them. The first time I heard this from one of the camp counsellors I couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were talking about sports at first and then before I knew it they got on to the topic of where I would go after this place. Then they just got the idea that I would die. My parents said I was a 'mistake' and that I shouldn't have been born." As Todd buried his face again and cried his heart out, Torahne patted his back and said, "I wouldn't believe everything you hear Todd. I mean take me for instance. My old man put me here because A: he along with my mother were too broke to put me into school let alone care for me at the time. B: they also wanted me to be strong when I grew up and C: they knew I was a bright kid and just had a funny way of showing it. Plus it's like you told me before. I was and am the 'big man on campus'. A lot of people are afraid of me, but I don't let it get to me. They don't know what I'm like. That goes for you and Victor too. They don't know what we can do. I can also say your parents love you as well. Do you want to know why?" Todd then nodded his head as he brought his head up from his knees and Torahne took out a package from under Todd's sleeping bag. It read from Lorraine and Dudley Pepperhue to Todd Pepperhue. Todd then said, "They said I wasn't allowed to open it." Torahne replied, "Who's gonna stop you? I want to know as much as you do as to what the heck is inside there too." Todd then ripped open the package as fast as he could with delight and as he opened it he found a set of cash, fancy clothes, a picture of his parents, and a letter. Torahne then replied, "Well read the letter my good man. Let's hear it."

As Todd read the letter, he was both shocked and crying for joy from what he heard. It read: Dear Todd,

I apologize if we didn't do this sooner, but under the circumstances it was next to impossible for us to keep you. Your mother and I wanted to tell you sooner about you being our son and heir to our family fortune, but we were being challenged by various black hooded gangs who wanted to take you away from us. The leader of whom I challenged and beat up was Mr. Abe G. L. Walker. He was a court attorney at law for over twenty years. He caught and put away many people for serious crimes, but was eventually relieved of duty when they hired a new attorney. He swore revenge on us because I was that attorney at law. He figured he would take you away because we had always wanted a child and that was why we sent you here. We said that you were a 'mistake' to the counsellors just in case he had spies looking for us. I guarantee nothing could be further from the truth. I am proud to call you my son no matter what happens. I am also coming by to pick you up since Mr. Walker has been dead for five weeks now. He apparently died of food poisoning in a hot dog he ate. I have enclosed you things that you'll need to be a successful man like me when I do arrive. In the mean time, Take care Son.

Until we meet again,

Dudley.

Torahne then said, "There you go then Todd. I told you so." Todd then said, "But what about you guys? I can't just up and leave you and Victor." Torahne then said, "Maybe we could hitch ride. My old man sent me a letter about a month ago saying he just became an attorney at law like your old man. Heck he even said they were the best of buddies. He just told me he could take me and Vic. He said that his parents miss him a lot." Victor who overheard the conversation then asked, "Having fun up there ladies?" Torahne noticed a small brunette kid jump on him and Todd and smack him with a pillow. Torahne then yelled, "Oh it's on now Vic." As the kids smacked pillows on each other and laughed while doing it, a dark figure was watching them outside from a tree, but more or less Victor. He was dark figure, the same height as Victor and had a shady set of yellow eyes. He snidely said, "Enjoy your little happiness Victor. Have fun with your friends. But note this. Some day we will meet when you least expect it and I will have you under my control." With that the dark being disappeared into the night.

**Present**

Torahne slowly opened his eyes and noticed that same brunette haired kid smiling with Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey, and Henry as well as the original Digidestined huddled around him as well. He then sarcastically said, "What is this a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation practice session? I mean come on a guy needs air." The group laughed at the comment and Victor reached his hand out to Torahne's left hand. "It's good to have you back man.", Victor replied. Torahne smacked his hand into Victor's right hand and held on as he was brought to his feet. He had ordeal like never before to tell to a friend of old, and friends of new. As he stood on his feet, the sun in the Digital World was starting to go down as sign of an end of one day, and the start of another.

(Yet again another taste of what is to come. Torahne has a lot to do with this story as I have been hinting and will continue to do so since I have a feeling the identity of Xehanort as both a person and being a heartless and nobody will be referenced in KH 3 if they do come around to making it in the near future. (Not to mention Birth by Sleep as well.))

(Next Time: Walker's Revenge (Part 1).)

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	12. Chapter 11

**Walker's Revenge (Part 1)**

As the group (including the Digidestined of course) awoke the next morning, Sora noticed Torahne watching the sunrise while sitting on the edge of the cliffside of Infinity Mountain. Victor was standing next to his old friend discussing about what they had done since their very last encounter over a decade earlier. Sora slightly tapped Victor on his shoulder and said, "You guys sure have a lot to talk about don't ya?" Torahne replied, "You would too if you had been through what I had been through." Sora then sat down on the cold ground saying, "So tell me. I'm not afraid. Besides it can't be all that bad." Victor then sat down next to Sora and said, "It would be best if we just told him Torahne. I mean I'm just as guilty as you were." Torahne looked at Sora's anxious face and Victor's stern looking face whilst crossing his arms in expectance for a story. Before Torahne even knew it, everyone else appeared behind Sora and Victor awaiting his story as well.

As Torahne began his little tale of deceit and sorrow, the details of his story were so immense it gave rise to the phrase, "some things are better left unsaid." Torahne was born on the quiet little world of Twilight Town. Torahne basically grew up like every normal kid had done before him in Twilight Town: His mother had a career as a chef and his father was a brilliant musician. He played the violin so much people were lulled into a deep sense of security and relaxation every time they heard Torahne's dad do so. Unfortunately, when he played for a wedding one cold winter's day the bride and groom said they had never been so utterly insulted in all their lives. They apparently thought that because they had a violinist in the church meant that they were destined to live in pain and suffering (since the violin has a bit of a deep meaning of sorrow within the strings being played) and thus his father was fired from his job as a musician. His mother, although very successful, couldn't help him out and thus they went broke on extra money. Their only chance was to send their son to the 'Training Academy' on the world that many people on Saryu called Fidelio. It was an all boys boot camp where kids of all ages were sent to get an education and to stay fit when parents couldn't afford to keep their children.

From that point on Torahne was not trusted by anyone. He was made fun of for his in-depth thought on life, his excelling talent in sports, and his extreme intelligence. He was so smart that he could have easily gotten a PhD in any career in about a third of the time it would normally take to earn one. At the time like many other boys he was short and was picked on by various guys there. He was constantly finding ways of either suppressing the anger he had inside through Hind meditations, practicing on punching bags in the high quality gym they had, or by writing poetry about the things he experienced in life. Soon enough though a couple of years later, another boy like him appeared under different circumstances. That boy would later befriend our newly growing and young Torahne. His name was (or rather is) Victor.

**Flashback**

A small little boy in a white t-shirt and blue shorts watched from a wide street as his parents teleported from the roads of Fidelio back into the starry sky. He then put his hands in his pockets and walked off beyond the large brick fencing wall that covered a vast expanse of the boot camp and as the door closed shut behind him, so too did any hope of leaving. All around the little boy were various guys in orange tracksuit uniforms. Each and everyone one of them clenched their fists, cracked their knuckles, or crushed rocks and pointed to the kid. The little boy ran as fast he could inside and their awaiting him was a tall man looking about the age of sixty in a black suit resembling that of Frollo's suit from Disney's the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The little boy crashed into his legs and fell to the ground. As he scratched his head, the tall stern man picked the boy up and said, "I hope you didn't hurt yourself now lad. That was quite a fall for someone your age." The little boy nodded and then whispered into the man's ear, 'Who are you?' "Me? My name is Colonel R. Palcelforte. I am the head minister of the Training Academy of Fidelio. I had the privilege of meeting your parents. They told me great things about you and how they wanted you to be taken good care of. Now tell me then, what is your name lad?" , the Mr. Palcelforte inquired as he picked the little guy up and carried him off down a large set of grey coloured corridors and hallways. The little boy then said, "Victor." "Victor. Such a rare name indeed. I haven't heard that name being said in decades. Nevertheless, I am quite pleased to have you here Victor. I'll be putting you in a dorm room with another boy about your age as well. His name is Torahne and from what I've seen is very friendly.", he replied. As he opened the door and then asked Victor which bunk he wanted, Victor pointed to the bottom and thus Mr. Palcelforte put him down there. He then told Victor if he needed anything all he had to was ask. Victor noticed a clump inside a sleeping bag above him and then climbed up top to see what it was since he curiosity always got the better of him. He opened the bed covering up to find a boy like him trying to sleep except he was taller and his hair was more darker brunette than his.

Victor then whispered, "Hi, what's your name?" "The name's shut up and let me sleep.", the exhausted guy replied. "That's a weird name. Usually I've heard names like Todd or Anthony being said, but yours is a first. My name is Victor.", the little boy said. "It's kind of hard to sleep with you hovering over me like that.", the exhausted guy replied again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad.", Victor replied. Victor then climbed down his bunk and into his sleeping bag. As he did, he couldn't help, but cry a little. He was all alone, with only mere memories of him and his brothers and his parents together to keep him company on that cold night. The boy above him took the pillow he was sleeping on and put it over his head to block out the sounds, but to no avail. Then he tried sleeping on his stomach, then his back and then underneath his sleeping bag and still nothing worked. He then climbed down his bunk and sat down next to the little guy crying his heart out. "I take it you just got here, huh?", the tall guy asked. Victor replied with a brief, "Yeah." "Listen I didn't mean to be rude back there on my bunk. I was just tired that's all." Victor then stuffed his face into his pillow and said, "No, it's not your fault. My parents sent me here. They said that many people thought there was something wrong with me. I daydreamed a lot, didn't talk a lot and somehow people thought there was something wrong with me. I just don't know (sob)." The tall boy then patted Victor's back and said, "Your parents only care though you know. I mean my parents did the same thing with me a couple years back and I was a total wreck at first. But then I realized, it doesn't matter what others think of you. You are who you are and the only thing that can change that is you, not them.", The tall boy replied. Victor then got his head out of his pillow and then placed it on his right side.

"My name's Torahne in case you were interested. If you want we could get together at lunch or whatever. The cafeteria's got some really good meatloaf. Plus the lunch ladies are really nice to me so I may be able to get us a good spot too." Victor smiled and then said, "I'd like that Torahne. You're alright in my books." Torahne then patted Victor's back again and said, "Take care buddy. Till we meet again." Victor nodded and as he dozed off to sleep, he then replied, "Till we meet again."

**Present**

The group then discussed it a little bit and Matt then said, "Not to criticize man, but that doesn't seem all that bad. I mean T.K. and I are half brothers and we barely got to see each other as is when we were little kids. Heck even Riku's story with darkness makes yours seem like heaven." Torahne then replied, "It gets worse trust me Matt. I wouldn't be saying all of this now if I didn't have a reason for it." Then a laugh appeared out of the mere blue. As the group listened closely it seemed to be getting closer and closer to them with each passing moment. Joe then asked, "Why do I get the feeling that it's going to be one of those days like we had as kids?" Victor shushed Joe and said whispering, 'Keep it down okay? Someone's coming.' Then about five feet above them was a huge cloud of fog and smoke. Kairi then asked, "Quick question people. Was that huge blanket of foggy clouds here a second ago?" Sora (of the Digidestined) then replied, "That's a no on my part Kairi. And I don't really want to find out who or what that is either." "You're all too late kiddies.", said an eerie voice. The clouds soon formed a white overcoat suited ghost wearing a black Texas Ranger hat and had green goo colour set of eyes to match.

Victor then gasped as the entire group looked at him and he said, "I know you, you're that wannabe cuff 'em drop 'em ghost Walker. You're one of Danny Phantom's enemies." "I personally don't know who in the world you're in talking about kid. The only thing I'm after is a teen ghost, in a black costume and he has glowing white hair. That and I'm after a kid who's got skin white as snow and green hair too. And there he is now. This is too easy." He spotted Henry and quickly grabbed him. Henry struggled to get free and then yelled, "Victor help me!!" Victor and the others then quickly ran after Walker and said, "You'd better let the kid go Walker." "Or else what? This kid's part of the reason I'm here in the first place. Thanks to the Lord I'm making a comeback. I guarantee I won't be losing this kid so easily. But feel free to come by and see what's happened to Amity Park. Hahahahaha." As he disappeared Torahne then replied, "Ever notice the bad guys always seem to think laughing solves anything."

Victor then collapsed on the ground and said in anxiety, "This can't be happening. That stupid ghost has Henry and its all my fault. His parents put him in my care and I let them down." Torahne then replied, "And History repeats itself. Look Victor if you don't get up now and fight he's going to be in more serious danger than you know." Mickey then asked as the rest of the group caught up with Torahne and Victor, "How do you know that if I may ask?" "It's a long story your majesty. I'll tell you after we get Henry back." Tai then asked, "Mind if we come along? We want to make sure that creeps like him don't get away either. From what Victor told us via on his cell phone things aren't looking too good." Victor then said as the opened another portal. Sora (from KH) then asked, "How'd you do that? One of those creeps broke the whistle when we got here." Victor then said, "Another perk with the powers of light my friend. Now then, to Amity Park we go." As the entire group entered inside (including Torahne), A man in a brown hooded suit was watching this from up above and observed the landscape of the Digital World as the group left for Amity Park.

(I know it's been a while and these last two chapters weren't their finest, but I figured in order to truly explain this little scenario I dreamed up, I would have to get the brief little intros on Victor and Torahne out of the way. Believe me, they'll make all the difference in explaining Victor's past as well as his brothers' pasts too. They all play an intricate part in the Eternal Beyond as does Torahne's history. As for Valadain and that little subplot I'm not too sure as of yet how I'm going to sum that one up, but don't worry I guarantee I will include him later on in as this story progresses. For now though, were going back to basic fighting.)

(Next Time: Walker's Revenge (Part 2))

(Review.)


	13. Chapter 12

**Walker's Revenge (Part 2)**

As the group arrived at their destination in Amity Park, things weren't quite what they would have hoped. There was destruction everywhere they looked. The Nasty Burger was incinerated to dust, the streets were covered in litter and trash and the sky was as red as an apple. Victor then said, "What in the world happened here?" Sora then asked, "Where are we anyway?" Torahne then said, "This is Amity Park Sora. Or what's left of it. A guy by the name of Danny Phantom resides in this place. I met a couple of times and he's a cool guy. Although I wish I could say the same for his home though." The group was then surrounded by a menacing group of heartless and nobodies. As Sora, Mickey, Riku, and Kairi transformed into their suits and took out their weapons as did everyone else, Torahne then said smugly, "I wonder who invited these guys to the party?" "The black things with yellow eyes are heartless and the white things are nobodies. Although I wonder what they're doing here.", Sora asked. "They're with me Kid."

Walker appeared and then the Digimon then digivolved into their champion levels. (I won't go into the big stuff but since they are the original Digidestined I'll just say what their digimon go to next. Tai has Agumon and he goes to Greymon. Matt has Gabumon and he goes to Garurumon. Izzy has Tentomon and he goes to Kabuterimon. Mimi has Palmon and she goes to Togemon. Joe has Gomamon and he goes to Ikkakumon. Sora has Biyomon and she goes to Birdramon. T.K. has Patamon and he goes to Angemon. Kari has Gatomon and she stays the same oddly enough.) Greymon then said, "You guys better take care of Walker and get Henry back. We'll take care of these clowns." Walker then chuckled and Sora asked, "What's so funny Walker?" "You kids are so gullible. These creatures that sorceress sent me were not the only things I have up my sleeve you know. I got my ghost goons as well." He then snapped his fingers and soon enough a group of walkers police looking ghosts appeared. "Let the games begin kiddies." The ghosts swooped in and the group ran in to take a few swipes, but their attacks went right through them.

Kairi then asked, "Well that's no good. How are we supposed to attack them if we can't even hurt them?" Just as she said this, a whole group of ghosts swooped in and bashed Sora and Riku and the others around like piñatas at a party. Sora then said, "No way am I letting a few ghosts get the better of me." Sora then with all of his might transformed into his Master Form and was rearing to beat all of the ghosts. The Digimon soon finished with the heartless and the nobodies and soon arrived to help out as well. Mickey then said holding off a set of twenty to forty ghosts, "You're timing couldn't be better fellas. We could use a hand over here." Tai then said, "Right. Greymon you heard the man." Greymon then said, "Right." The digimon then digivolved into their Ultimate levels: Greymon went to MetalGreymon, Birdramon went to Garudamon, Garurumon went to WereGarurumon, Kabuterimon went to MegaKabuterimon, Ikkakumon went to Zudomon, Togemon went to Lilymon, Angemon went to MagnaAngemon, and Gatomon went to Angewoman. Walker then said, "Hey Victor if you want the kid back I'll cut you a deal how's it sound?"

Torahne then said, "No deal Walker. We won't fall for your tricks right Victor?" Victor nodded and then said, "It depends. What's the catch?" Walker then said, "It's simple really we get to give you Henry back in exchange for you. You see the Lord really wants you for some special reason and he won't take no for an answer. In fact, I'll make it simple. You get the kid back and I'll just go call the guy up. How's that sound?" Victor then said, "If it gets Henry back, I guess I don't have a choice." Sora then grabbed hold of Victor's cuffs at his shirt and then asked, "What are you doing Victor? Don't you think he's got something up his sleeve?" Torahne then said, "Let him go Sora." Sora then said, "But…" He raised his hand up and Sora then let go of Victor. Walker then snapped his fingers and two ghosts brought a tied up and unconscious Henry down to the ground and Victor then stepped forward to hold the boy. "I knew you'd see it my way.", Walker snidely laughed out after saying his little testament. A blast then hit him and he then asked, "What?" The entire group looked up into the sky and saw something.

Soon enough though another ghost appeared. He was much different from the other ghosts. He wore a black suit that had a D at the centre of it, his boots and gloves were white and his hair was too and his skin was tan like that of Xemnas or the Heartless of Xehanort. It was Danny Phantom as Torahne then said. Danny said, "You just never learn do you?" "We'll see about that ghost-boy. Get him you guys and show no mercy." The ghosts then tackled Danny Phantom and as Sora and Riku and Kairi rushed off to help them, Torahne stopped them and pointed to the scene. Danny Phantom then pulverized all of the ghosts and were blasted through a portal in the sky that had just formed back into a place that Danny called the Ghost Zone. Walker then said, "I prepared for just such an occasion." Walker then snapped his fingers again and then the ground began to rumble. As it did a giant ghost crab appeared and started tearing up the town. Danny Phantom then said, "You guys might want to take care of Walker for me. I may be busy for the time being." As he said this and flew away. Victor rushed in and grabbed Henry from behind Walker and gave him to Mickey.

Walker then turned around and back towards Victor and asked, "Okay punk how'd you do that?" "Three words: Power of Light Walker. Live it love it.", Victor replied smugly. Then Walker snapped his fingers and a barrier appeared around him, Victor, Torahne and Sora. "So it's a fight you guys want then eh? So be it. I hope you guys packed a good enough suitcase. You're gonna need a vacation after I'm through with you in my prison." Danny then appeared and threw the crab he had in the palm of his hands into the Ghost Zone just as he landed inside the barrier. The others tried as hard they could to get in, but no luck. It was up to these guys now to be the heroes. Walker then had a shadow appear out of himself and low and behold it was Mephiles.

Sora gasped and then said, "You again?" The little hedgehog laughed out of spite and said, "At long last we meet again you fool. So forth to be your doom at the hands of the Squadron." Victor ran off to fight Walker as he punched him in the gut and Torahne then ran off to join him as well. Danny then noticed Mephiles start to multiply and he asked, "Hey you in the knight suit…" "The name's Sora." "Sora, is that supposed to happen? Because if it isn't things sure are going to get ugly around here." Mephiles multiplied into a set of hedgehogs that blacked the once red sky of its shine and as he laughed he then said, "Soon I will be the one to take charge of this galaxy. I will get my just revenge on you fools and be rid of you once and for all." Danny then said as he destroyed all of his copies in a flash second with ease, "Listen man two words: Anger Management. All the ghosts I've faced have the same issues and trust me you need it the most of all of them." "Very impressive, but not a bright move. You fell for my trap." Danny then got caught in a net made of pure ghost repellent and he then said, "Ghost repellent and to think I thought that was an urban myth." As he disappeared along with Mephiles, Sora ran forward and then said, "Oh no you don't." But it was too late. Danny was captured before he even caught the net. Sora was then booted out of the barrier to sit and watch from the sidelines as well.

Meanwhile, Victor and Torahne began double teaming on Walker to gain momentum against the brute, but he was tricky as well since he had a strong arm and punch to him. The others as well as Sora were watching in amazement as Victor and Torahne worked well together and since Torahne had a good amount of bulk to his muscle that made him just as powerful as Walker. "Ready to give up kids?", Walker asked. As Torahne kicked him in the stomach and Victor sliced his back with his sword in the end to finish it, Victor then said, "Never." Walker then said laughing, "This is not over yet kids. I'm a ghost. I'll be back someday and when I do return, you and Torahne are finished. Or should I say Xehanort. Hahahahaha." The barrier then dropped and the others cheered as loud as they could. All the while, Torahne then said to Victor, "Your moves are sloppy." Victor then replied, "Your reflexes have gotten sluggish too."

Riku then said, "That was amazing. You guys were in sync like there was no tomorrow." Mickey then said, "You got to admit it was pretty impressive. You guys are twice as powerful as even the Dark Masters themselves (of Digimon)." Kairi then asked looking at Torahne, "But what did Walker mean by you when he called you Xehanort?" Torahne was then stared down by the original Digidestined and Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy with suspicious eyes as Henry started to wake up. "Alright fine. I guess you guys would've found out anyway so here it goes. Remember when I said Victor and I met at the Training Academy and when he introduced me to Todd, well…"

**Flashback**

It was late at night, and during a dream of Torahne's a dark figure appeared on his top bunk and flew right inside of him. Inside Torahne's dream he was fighting Victor. They were in a classic wrestling ring being judged by Colonel R. Palcelforte. What's more he was losing it too with scratches and bruises everywhere. Just as Victor ran in for the finishing blow, he awoke from his troubling dream. He went into the Mess Hall about two feet away from their cabin to get a glass of water and when he turned to leave the giant lodge looking building he saw a black figure that looked like Victor at the door. Torahne then asked, "Victor? What are you doing here?" "I'm not Victor you little fool. I am merely a part of him if you could call it that.", the dark being replied. Torahne then put the glass on the table nearest to him and asked, "Okay then who are you then if you're not Victor?" "I am the Darkness that resides inside the boy. My name is Darkness and I represent all that is sinful and evil about the boy. You see that dream you just had is just a mere representation of all the competitive times you have had a desired hatred for Victor." Torahne then yelled, "Okay man. Have you been spying on me? Because if you have I'll…" "You'll what? Destroy me? Hardly, only Victor can destroy me. He and I were supposed to be comrades as well. I was an advisor deep within his head despite my nature as an entity. I wanted to have temporary control of him so as to guide him, but he refused with such utter distaste.", Darkness replied. "More like he got rid of you. Good riddance indeed.", Torahne yelled. "Yet you too are like me. We both suffer the due fact that no matter what he will always surpass us in every way. He has more power in one thought he creates then all of the military arms on the planet Earth combined ten times. You know you want to be his equal, but can't."

Torahne then slightly looked to the ground and Darkness replied, "I thought so. You feel like you were always getting left behind Victor in everything he did. Let me become part of you my child. Together we shall get our revenge on that rut some brat together." Torahne then said, "No dice man. I want to be as good maybe better than Victor, but that doesn't mean I'm going to resort to the handiwork of some dark Goth nut.", Darkness then said as he disappeared and reappeared behind him saying, "Very well then. But I could make things much difficult for Victor. I could see it now. His parents suffering from death. Or perhaps I could kill that boy he calls Todd and leave him in a gutter for pedophiles to enjoy all night." Torahne the gasped grew angry at this and yelled, "You wouldn't." "Try me Torahne." Torahne then looked surprised as Darkness continued, "That's right I know your name. I know everything about you Torahne. I used to live in Victor's mind henceforth why I look like him. I also won't hesitate to make his life worse if you won't comply with my offer."

Torahne then said, "You win. What do you have in mind?" Darkness then said, "This." He travelled inside Torahne's mind and the boy clasped his hands on top of his head as he dropped to his knees and struggled control himself. His head collapsed on the floor as his eyes turned orange and his body became more buff, his heart was all but evaporated and in its place was Darkness's heart. Then smiling sinisterly and using Torahne's voice Darkness said, "We are no longer just Torahne or just Darkness. No longer do we have a normal heart or ordinary human weaknesses. Now we are Xehanort!!!"

**Present**

(As you just read, Darkness took over Torahne and when he did his heart was replaced with Darkness's heart. This is how I believe he could still wield the keyblade and become Xehanort as well if he is just a hybrid of beings with hearts themselves. It would make sense too because no person from what I know is born evil. (Call me being crazy and utterly Anti-Semitic (which I am not by any means), but even Adolf Hitler wasn't born evil either. He only got there because of a terrible childhood.) So thus begins the era of Xehanort and the events of KH BBS to soon come later on.)

(Next Time: A Truth Revealed.)

(Review.)


	14. Chapter 13

**A Truth Revealed**

**Flashback**

(A little reminder that for those of you who didn't read Legend of the White Knight as of yet probably should since Darkness the key character of this part of the series is crucial to understanding his hatred of Victor and why he is doing what he is doing to get rid of Victor.)

As Xehanort slept the next day, his mind started to change with Darkness inhabiting what was once Torahne's body. This was no longer the Torahne that Victor knew. Even Victor was starting to figure it all out as well from what was occurring. Torahne as he knew him even told him to no longer call him by that name since he seemed to think of it as an embarrassment to his family name. One day Victor and Xehanort were called up to the ring to square off in an example of pure sportsmanship fighting. Xehanort then said looking at his friend, "I hope you're ready for this Victor. I've been training for this for a whole year." "Listen Xehanort or Torahne, whatever you want to call yourself. I don't the due fact that us fighting in the ring will change our friendship okay? I mean I just couldn't forgive myself if I let that happen." Xehanort listened to Darkness in his head and then said, 'Listen to that little worm whine. It's sickening. Now do as I say and you will get your just reward.' Xehanort then waited for the bell to ring and as it did go off Victor and Xehanort ran at each other and smacked each other to the ground like pop cans getting thrown into recycling bags.

Victor gave a crucial smack to Xehanort's face as he kicked Victor in his stomach and uppercutted him across the ring. He then underestimated Victor's quick agility and then he got tripped up by Victor's superior reflexes. They were evenly matched and it seemed as if neither of them could give in. Darkness had other plans in motion though. He cleverly noticed the boy panting and catching his breath, a vulnerable time to get him. 'Now look at the boy. He's clearly exhausted and beat up. You can kill him now if you strangle him at the neck.' Xehanort then thought, 'I won't do it Darkness. I only did this so I could become more powerful and equal to that of Victor. I never wanted to kill anyone.' 'Now you listen to me you little ingrate, either you finish the boy now, or else the consequences will be dire in your case once I'm through with you.', Darkness replied. Xehanort then ran in to tackle Victor, but he was up to snuff and then tried punching Xehanort.

Xehanort held his ground with his arms crossed above his face. Unfortunately he left his guard open for a millisecond after Victor attempted to recover and instead kicked him to the ground and ending the little sparring match. As Xehanort stood up scratching his head a familiar hand was reaching out for his to go and pick him up. Victor asked, "Are you okay buddy?" "Uh…Yeah…it's alright Victor. The better man won this round this time." Xehanort looked away, but Victor held on to his shoulder and Victor asked, "Is something the matter Tora-I mean Xehanort?" The tall, but kind boy then turned and smiled to his buddy and said, "Oh no. It's okay. I was just thinking that's all."

The boys laughed it off and then just as the school bell rang they heard the ice cream truck jingle from less than a few feet away and both of them raced on off to get there first before the other kids managed to get there and take all the good flavours. It was a good life for the boys. They laughed, went swimming in the 'Ol' Swimming Hole' as the other boys called the lake nearby the Training Academy. But as the two years Victor knew Xehanort rolled by them, he slowly changed in attitude some more. His laidback attitude was replaced with a mere sense of pride and power hunger. His deep emotional side was exchanged for being over competitive and sport obsessed. He even had a wardrobe change into which he started to look like a kid in a grown up suit. It was black and grey and the cuffing were rounded off on his sleeves and his neck making look like he was going to a funeral. (essentially this isn't the same suit that Master Xehanort was wearing, but this is where it all began in a sense. Over 70 (just throwing numbers out there) of all characteristics that a person has begin as a child. In a way the way I see Birth By Sleep, if anyone has read my other chapters in Legend of the White Knight, I would partake a guess that the idea for the keyblades in the first place occurred in a dream and when the 'creator' woke up it came to him/her.)Victor slowly didn't even know who his friend was anymore. The last day though that they were together ever was the 'straw that really broke the camel's back unfortunately.'

"You want to what?", Victor asked his buddy as they stood on a hill overlooking an endless coniferous forest. "It's very simple Victor. Why have we been done wrong by all those people at the Training Academy? It's because they don't understand how to love others or be good. They were never raised like you or I. They think that they can make fun of whomever they wish and get away with it. I'll show them though. Once I discover how to unlock a person's heart, I'll just simple change the qualities of that person so as to make their goodness and nice qualities shine more than their bad." Victor shook his head and then said, "Listen Xehanort. I don't want to tell you what to do, but this is madness you're talking here. I mean you can't just control a person's heart. It's impossible. It's downright evil is what it is." 'I told you the boy wouldn't agree with the plan.', Darkness told Xehanort.

"But Victor, I'm doing this for us. No longer will we have to put up with bullies nor will anyone else. No longer will any of us have to suffer and be ridiculed. We will be able to control our sins and possibly abolish them forever.", Xehanort said into the wind that abruptly came in. "Seriously though Xehanort, it's just an urban myth. I'm not telling you to give up your dreams, but this one might backfire on you though. I mean it's how God created us. We're all meant for good things. That means no matter what other people say or do, we can affect what we do." Xehanort then grew angry and then said, "I thought you knew me Victor. I want to help us have a brighter future instead of staying here in this dump. I mean you're almost seven and I'm almost nine years old. We should be back home with our families. Not here in this dump. I want to help us out and all you can say is that you're against me. I thought you were my friend." Victor shook his head and said, "I am Xehanort. I really care about what you're doing, because I don't want you to get hurt. You're my best friend. If you go through with this it will backfire. I guarantee it will. Can't you understand?" Xehanort then yelled, "Silence!!" He then summoned a grey spear like weapon into his hands. "Obviously you don't know me then. Which means there's only way to settle this. We fight until the other can't."

Victor then looked to the ground and then said, "I know you're there Darkness!!" Xehanort then screeched and then he asked, "How did you I was here you little wench?" "It's simple. Xehanort or no Xehanort, he is still Torahne in my eyes. He's my best friend and I guarantee I won't let you take him." Darkness then said, "We'll see about that boy!!" Xehanort and Victor then fought each other. Xehanort wore grey clothing and wielded a spear like weapon with two blades on the top and bottom. Victor on the other hand didn't have or need a weapon to fight. He used his own to hands instead. The two friends clashed as they had years past as kids. This time however their friendship lay in the balance. Victor fought with all of his might as did Xehanort. They both didn't let up until Victor broke his weapon. Xehanort then got blown away by the impact and Victor had ended it as soon as it had begun. "It's not too late Xehanort. Please, you don't have to do this. Power's not everything. I should know. I had it being a bad guy once. It's nothing but a poison.", Victor said. Xehanort added, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. You wouldn't understand." Xehanort then ran off into the forest leaving behind Victor all confused and at a loss for words.

A few weeks later, a boy about Victor's age was found in a dark alley half conscious. His heart was in a deep throttle, almost as if it were reacting to a spell of the sort (hint: this is Xehanort's first experiment when dealing with the heart. He learned his tricks from an expert at 'Darkness'. It won't be my character for sure, but some other entity I believe has something in on this because in the secret ending video for KH 2 Xehanort was way too prepared all the attacks that they threw at him considering he had help from his apprentice. He seemed to win with ease. No villain in any story wins, unless the author decides it so.) Colonel Palcelforte called Victor in to ask him about Xehanort (Torahne rather) about his behaviour because he was caught casting the spell on the child of question and was suspected of attempted murder (Also see Competition at its Worst to see the conversation between these two.) The Colonel promised Victor after he stopped crying of course, that he would do whatever he could to take care of both him and Xehanort.

But it was too late. By the time they went to check up on the lad, he disappeared and took everything with him. The only thing left on his bunk was a letter for Victor. As Victor read what was inside he was shocked. "Dear Victor,

I apologize if I was rash with how I brought up the situation. I feel as if I betrayed you. Unfortunately we can no longer be friends though. Darkness swore he would use me to get to you and take you over by any means necessary. He even said that he was going to capture a special power in a universe far away called Kingdom Hearts. He says that it would give him enough power to rid himself of any opposition in his way, namely you. I promise you though when I do get rid of his evil presence in me we will meet again.

I will miss you dearly, friend.

Hope for the best,

Torahne." Victor shed tears all over the letter as he cried his little heart out and ran to Colonel Palcelforte as he held the boy near and told him his parents would soon come to pick him up. This was indeed the last time Victor would see of Torahne for a long time. It would be the last time he would gaze eyes upon _**his best friend**_.

**Present**

(Such a sad ending I have to admit, but a possible way in some aspects of the chapter that TN (Tetsuya Nomura) I believe is going about this. That's why he doesn't want to give away too much. It's simply because games like this are filled with a special type emotion that really touches us all hence why Disney wants in this situation. This is also how I believe that Xehanort would have grown up as well. Any friends he once had were abandoned, his heart grew darker and as he lived in the KH universe for many years (keep in mind that the KH universe as depicted here, time flows here faster than in the real world we know and live in. I.E. one year here is like a decade there.))

(Next Time: Valadain's Respect.)

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	15. Chapter 14

**Valadain's Respect**

As Valadain and Tyrannius rushed through the dark halls of Castle Imorgia, Valadain couldn't help, but stare at such beauty that the castle had inside. The tapestry was made of a rare golden fleece, the carpeting was of a silver colour, the castle walls were white, and seemed to stretch on for miles, the arches of the hallways were shaped like that of the German knights' helmets of the sixteenth century, and the doors had a different kind of bouquet of flowers above them from violets and daffodils to roses and petunias. As Tyrannius ran up in the northern hallway just five feet ahead of Valadain, he caught him daydreaming and then asked, "Hey Sunshine, how long's this gonna take? That girl Felicia has got a lot of trouble brewing her way." Valadain then said, "Okay fine let's go. This castle sure is pretty though." Tyrannius then said, "It's not that great." As Valadain and Tyrannius ran farther and farther ahead and entered in the room at the very end of the hallway, there they saw Felicia was asleep on a silky pink bed surrounded by acres and acres of flower portraits and carpeting of roses and tiger lilies. Tyrannius then said, "I wonder who this guy's realtor is? He sure needs some work on this place that's for sure."

Valadain saw Felicia sleeping in her bed and saw how radiant her blonde hair was flowing with the breeze of the wind coming in from the window. Her dress was as red as poppies and in her hands she held a rose (similar to Aurora from Sleeping Beauty). Valadain could remember everything about her that made him feel warm and happy. He was a bored, klutzy boy of prince and she was a living goddess as a little girl. Even when he tried to give her something nice, he just made a mess of things and she giggled over how sweet he was. Yet as both Tyrannius and Valadain walked over to wake the girl they heard a voice say, "Fools, you dare to enter my castle." In the flesh was a dark skinned man in beige clothing and he was covered in a red suit and an orange robe (sort of like the regular red king's cape). At the top of his brunette hair was a set of leaves arranged like those of the Roman Caesar's crown and his eyes were as green as the boreal forests of North America. He wore a silver mask over his face that covered up his true identity.

Soon enough he was asked by Valadain, "Yuis Caesar? I can't believe it, the actual former emperor himself. How in the world did you get out of your prison in the Nether Realm?" The emperor laughed out of spite and then said, "A foolish witch attempted to get me, the great Yuis Caesar to work for her in return for my freedom. Such stupidity is of the most atrocious. I take orders from no one. I am that of a million of Sanshobi's finest warriors and she expects me to bow down to her? Such insolence." Tyrannius then said, "Hey pal, I don't really care about these long speeches, but you got something of value in this room that belongs to my former man Val here. Either you give the girl back, or we'll take her by force." Yuis then snapped his fingers and all of them including Felicia and the bed were transported to the throne room of the castle. It was made up of many pews from front to back and the entire room was pitch black and the only thing giving light was the candles that were already lit in the area. "So you want the princess then? Well you must go through me to do this young ones." Tyrannius then snidely nudged Valadain and then said as Valadain rolled eyes, "Looks like this guy's nothing more than a bunch of hot gas no ain't he?" Yuis then exploded into a cloud of black smoke and from it came a black Basilisk with green stripes all over its body. Yuis then said with a thicker voice, "If I had a tongue like yours you I would have it chopped off and fed to the dogs back on Saryu. Now you'll pay for your remarks once and for all."

Meanwhile, as the group were in Amity Park recapping what had just occurred with Torahne and his story, Victor then said as the group were still discussing it, "It was dark times. What can I say?" Sora then said, "I don't get it though. Riku and I fought you as Xemnas and Donald, Goofy and I fought and beat you as Xehanort's… I mean your heartless. How did you end up at Ansem's door in Radiant Garden then?" Torahne shook his head and then said, "My memory is a little cloudy, but I remember that when I did end up in this universe, I trained myself for years under the watchful eye of Darkness and when I became 'old and grey' here, I found a little kid struggling to wield a key like weapon like the ones you guys have. Back in the day here, there were many key users as I called them. Darkness told me they would eventually have been a threat to our cause to take over Kingdom Hearts and decided that they would have had to have been eradicated. Anyways, the little kid I saw was crying and I asked him why. The other kids made fun of him for not knowing how to even use a 'keyblade' and I decided that I would teach him and make him my apprentice (the Guardian in a sense has to have a reason to be with Xehanort if this (most likely) isn't it). The next thing I knew we started to do terrible things to the universe and that's it."

Riku then asked, "So there isn't anything more you remember?" Torahne shook his head. Tai then said, "So then how'd you appear to us back in the Digital World then anyway?" Torahne then said, "I'm not sure. It's as if I felt a strong power coming from Victor's heart that was urging me to become whole again. Victor's light truth be told broke Darkness's power over me and from there I became myself again. It wasn't until after you guys defeated Darkness in Victor's mind that I actually became myself and could reappear in the universe again though." Victor then asked, "How in the world do you know about that? Only Sora and I as well as Kairi know about that experience." Torahne then said, "I know it's weird. It's just I was asleep for all this time in my own mind though. It's as if I fell asleep and in a dream I had you guys were fighting and when Darkness was defeated by the blast of the 'Rose of Eternity' you used on him, I was suddenly re-born."

The entire group gasped and Victor then said, "Woah woah woah woah woah. There's no way you could know about that, unless someone told you about this power." "Like I said Vic, it just came to me in a dream. I awoke and I just knew because of Darkness's defeat I was a new man." Then before the group knew it a shining light appeared around them and they were transported to Castle Imorgia were Valadain and Tyrannius were doing battle against Yuis Caesar. Tyrannius wielded a sword similar to that of Leon and was an equal to that of Valadain. (May as well listen to 'The Encounter' for this fight.) Sora then noticed Valadain and then yelled as loud as he could, "Valadain, man it's been a while." The tall red headed guy then replied, "I wish this were a better situation, but we've got trouble." Yuis then noticed the group of youths behind Tyrannius and Valadain and then said, "You dare send in a bunch of children to face me now as well. You little fool. I can't believe you would dare degrade me to such a level." Victor then said, "Why not talk louder big boy? I mean we're just kids so we can't understand you anyway." Sora then said, "We'll show you what kids can do." The group drew out their keyblades and then the group transformed into their armoured selves (excluding Donald, Goofy and the Digidestined and their digimon as well as Torahne).

Yuis then noticed Torahne and then said, "Ah the young key user has returned at last. So Torahne, how does it feel to have such power at your fingertips? How does it feel to hold darkness in your heart?" the group looked at Torahne and then he said, "That's none of your concern Yuis. You don't know who I am. You don't know what I have for potential." Victor then said, "Why don't we teach this guy a lesson in manners?" Torahne nodded and then a group of heartless and nobodies appeared and then surrounded the group as well as Valadain and Tyrannius. Tyrannius then said, "Hey kid, the one with the grey armoured suit." Henry then pointed to himself in confusion and Tyrannius then nodded and said, "Catch." He then threw green card to him and said, "It's a safeguard. Trust me you might want to keep it in case Yuis wants to get a hold of you." Yuis then said, "So you're the legendary Oracle of Destiny that these so called mortals keep prattling on about. Such a fine youth indeed. I even declare that you could probably fight well too. Just like Theodore Capulet." Victor then said, "So you know about his family then I take it?" Yuis nodded and then said, "I know many things Victor. I know that because of the boy's great-grandfather I was placed in that rotten prison of a dimension the Sanshobians call the Nether Realm for over five hundred years. I was freed by the legendary witch Maleficent in the hopes that I would serve her in disposing of you wretched fools. But I see I have no competition. You are all so perilously outmatched." Yuis transformed from his serpent form into his regular Caesar form and he took out a long, but thin black sword. It was so dark and so powerful, the darkness emulating from it was surrounding Yuis in a cloud of smoke creating the perfect form of a warrior built for battle. Sora then said, "That's what you think." Kairi then said, "We've heard you talk trash mister, but can you back up with some action?" Yuis then replied, "My dear, I thought you would never ask." He then snapped his fingers.

A barrier appeared around Torahne and Victor and then they rushed off to face this menace. Victor began slashing at his dark sword with swords of light and Yuis then replied while holding his defence, "Very impressive boy. Your light is strong. I'll give you that much. But it's not as strong as I am." Victor then got blown away and Torahne charged ahead and took out a sword of his own. Although it was wooden at first, it soon became a keyblade (basically it's a brown keyblade with a shattered heart as its emblem.) The group then gasped and Sora then said, "He's got a keyblade? How does that work?" Torahne grinned and then said, "Watch and learn you guys. Come Victor. Let's give this guy a lesson in manners." Victor nodded and then they attacked Yuis together. Torahne ran in from Yuis' right and clashed with his sword left, right, and as he flung it downward Victor jumped in and sliced his chest while his guard was down." Victor then said, "Too bad though we can't beat you." The group gasped and then Henry asked, "You're the ones who are beating him. How can you say that?" "Because they're right you fool." Yuis then tackled both Torahne and Victor at the same time. He just kept going at them with pure tenacity. Yuis scraped Victor's left knee with a slash so powerful his blood was spewing out as a dark black liquid. He even slashed Torahne so hard, his ribs felt the pain Victor had in his knee ten times more. He slashed and slashed them many times with his sword and they soon collapsed on the ground with blood trailing everywhere. The tyrant emperor laughed and the group ran in to take Torahne and Victor back to try and heal them. Victor then said as he put his hand on Henry's shoulder, "You're the one who's got to finish this guy man." The group then yelled, "What?" and Torahne said, "I agree with Victor. You're the only one with enough power to face a guy like this."

Izzy then said, "If you guys think about this there's no way any of us could beat a guy like that. Not even if we were all combine could do it." Riku then said, "Then again that's what Torahne and Victor are trying to tell us isn't it? We can't just simply say that someone can't do it if they haven't even tried right? Henry's more powerful than you guys give him credit for." Henry then said looking determined as ever towards an injured Victor who had cuts all over his face and his chest, "I won't let you down Victor." Victor shook his head and said, "You never did." Henry then stood up and took out his grey sword that Victor gave him back in Pocahontas' world. Yuis then stared at the little green haired boy rearing for battle and said, "Such a young little bundle of hope. I was hoping to face a worthier opponent and now I am. Let us see what kind of power you truly have little one. But first…" Yuis snapped his fingers and the group was slowly getting swallowed by a dark pool in the ground and as this occurred Henry was saying, "Stop that!! Why are you doing this?" Yuis then chuckled and said, "Its to see your power child. The most elegant and triumphant of all warriors are those that fight for their beliefs, their values, their honor." Henry noticed Victor's hand outstretched to his and ran to grab hold of it and as he did, he then said, "Don't go Victor!! Please don't go!!" Victor smiled and said, "I know you can do this Henry. You have what it takes." Henry then started to get a tear trickle down his face and he said, "I'm not strong though. I'm not a powerful guy like you. I'm just a little guy who gets in the way." Victor shook his head as Henry held his hand and said, "You're not Henry. You're courageous and good. That's all the strength you'll ever need to win any fights." "But how can you be so sure that I can do it?", the little guy asked. "Because I have faith in you. Just like my parents had in me as did Torahne. Don't be afraid Henry. I know you can do many great things. But you must believe in yourself. Believe in yourself…" Victor then sank into the pool and as it disappeared, Henry cried out into the throne room and punched the ground. He then started to cry and tears trickled down his face like a faucet. "Victor!!" Yuis then laughed and said, "How delicious!! You have feelings for those children. I can see that you're friends matter a lot to you. Too bad that friendship and loyalty do not win battles." Henry then stood up and turned to face Yuis and then said, "You're wrong Yuis Caesar. Loyalty and Friendship are a big part of everyone's life. I wouldn't be half the fighter I am right now if it hadn't been for Victor. He's always believed in me. He never gave up on me for a second. I won't let him down." A barrier surrounded the lone fighters and then Henry heard Victor in the shadows say, "Never give up Henry. Whatever you do never give up!!!" Henry then thought to himself, 'You can be sure I won't Victor. You can be sure I won't.' Yuis then stared at the boy and then saw a familiar man stand before him. His hallucination had long green hair, had skin as white as snow, and he bore a green mustache and a beard. Yuis then said, "So Theodore. I see you reincarnated yourself to face off against me once more." Henry raised one eyebrow and said, "I don't know what you're talking about man, but I won't let you get away with this!!" Henry then ran in to make the first move as Yuis slowly embraced it to come to past.

(So there you have it. Valadain and the 'group's' paths collided. I will explain more later as to how Torahne managed to become himself again so stay tuned. The fight of five hundred centuries is about to occur.)

(Next time: The Battle of Caesar.)

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	16. Chapter 15

**The Battle of Caesar**

As Henry ran in to make the first move, Yuis grabbed his armour and threw him into the air. Then he teleported into mid-air and elbowed the poor boy to the ground at light speed. Henry managed to land on his hands and back flipped to quickly draw out his grey sword and clash against Yuis' mighty black steel sword of darkness. Henry's sword although had a key ability that Henry didn't even know about at the time though. As Henry held his sword out and grasped both the blade end and the handle with both of his hands and as Yuis brought his sword down harder on Henry's weapon, sparks of electricity began to glow. "You waste my time boy. If you are the great Oracle of Destiny, let's see what you can do. Stop being a coward." Henry then thought, 'How can I be though? I know Victor told me I have to be brave, but it's so impossible to do it. Especially when I'm fighting one of the most dangerous people in Saryu and Sanshobian history." However, a glow came from the weapon of grey colour. It transformed Henry's armour. He got steel padding on his shoulders, his legs became skinnier so as to provide more agile reflexes, and his entire face became covered in a grey helmet.

Henry then took hold of the sword by its handle and pushed Yuis back with his right hand. The mighty Caesar flew back about ten feet back to which the ground underneath him started to break and disintegrate. The Caesar then said, "So that is the great power of the Capulets. Impressive power it is, if only it were under a more supreme fighter." Henry then said, with his voice sounding more mature, "That's what you think Yuis. Woah!! That's my voice!! Victor wasn't kidding when he told me about this sword!!" Henry then charged right at Yuis, but with one swoop of his hand in the air, a mighty cloud of black arrows flew right at the young warrior and scraped his armour. Henry then held his sword's handle once more and shot a blast of light through the arrows and towards Yuis. It struck his heart and then he said falling to his knees in sheer pain, "That light!! It's purifying my heart!!" Henry then noticed that his grey sword slowly started to change its form and it became like that of a keyblade. In fact it did actually become a keyblade!! The whole weapon was covered in a grey colour and on the handle was a keychain and at the end of it was an emblem in the shape of three arrows pointing upward and a spade pointing downward. It was the Capulet Royal Coat of Arms. Henry then thought, 'I'm a key user too. That must be why Victor has faith in me so much. It would explain why he wants me to be brave.' Yuis then summoned a dark orb glowing black. He then put it into his sword and he then said, "You hear that my boy? That's the sound of your friends' sorrows. With one final blow, I will rid myself of my former arch enemy and resurrect the empire once more. The best part is you can't even touch me for if you do, and the sword is destroyed, so shall your friends as well." Henry gasped and then thought, 'How can I do this? I can't just go through with it. He wants me to attack. But if I don't then innocent people will get hurt because of him.' Yuis then slashed Henry's back and punched him to the ground so hard that there was a giant crater in the middle of the floor about fifteen feet wide and in length. Yuis then shocked the boy with his sword creating sparks in his suit that caused him to demorph back into his regular clothes. Yuis then grabbed the keyblade out of Henry's hands and as he struggled to grab it, he then said, "That's mine!! Give it back or else!!" "Or else what you little hooligan? You'll actually fight me? I have more power than anyone alive in this universe. I am Yuis Caesar!!" Yuis held the weapon in his hand and when he clenched his right hand, the keyblade turned to dust." Henry then started to cry as the Caesar stood overtop on his tiny chest with his cleat boot. He slowly pressed into his body to create blood stains on his body and he raised his sword high in the air and prepared to lower it down and deliver the finishing blow. He then laughed and asked, "Any last words before I kill you my boy?"Henry then stared at the dusty remains of his keyblade and he reached out to them. Yuis then looked at the dust trail and then said, "Such a pathetic display. You still think you can call that weapon back. I am aware of the might that is the keyblade. It is a weapon of pure insolence. It has no true power, no strength, and no real connections. It is no better than the heart, which has no true connections to light. How is it that you still believe in such a trinket?" Henry then said with tears in his eyes, "It's because someone believed in this whole time and knew I had what it took to be a brave man. You're wrong about the heart. It may seem like a useless trinket, but it's more powerful than you can realize. So is the keyblade. I don't need a weapon to defeat you." Yet as Henry said this, a strong forcefield blew Yuis away, the keyblade was called back to him and restored and it healed his wounds. The mighty Caesar then said, "Impossible?!? How can a mere child have this much power?" Henry then transformed into his armoured self and into his recent upgrade as a knight and he then threw the keyblade at Yuis and struck his heart once more and the darkness was destroyed, and as it happened Yuis turned into dust (Irony). The sword the Caesar wielded disappeared and from it came the entire group as well as the Digidestined, Torahne and Victor as well.

The group looked upon the new knight that stood amidst the damaged throne room as Valadain ran over to Felicia to wake her up. Victor then asked, "Henry? Is that you in that new armour?" Henry then reverted back to his normal self and then asked as he smiled confidently, "What do you think?" Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Riku then cheered and ran over to lift the little guy above their shoulders and do a classic 'hip-hip-hooray' throw in the air. Henry then was lifted down and looked at Victor who then said looking at his new weapon, "So I guess you're like Riku, Sora, and Mickey now. You can wield a keyblade at will as well. I also take it you beat Yuis, didn't you?" The little guy nodded and said, "It wasn't easy, but yes he's gone." Victor then said, "I think it's best if we leave this place you guys. The Squadron may have spies surrounding the castle. They have picked up the battle and will no doubt want Henry after this little fight." Sora then asked, "What's that little keychain on your chain on your keyblade Henry?" Henry then noticed the little emblem and held it in his hands and replied, "Oh this? It's the Royal Coat of Arms of my family heritage, the Capulets. It's been a sign of our royal bloodline, our past, our present and future, and it just represents all that we have done for the people of Sanshobi. I still can't believe I can wield such a weapon. When I fought Yuis, I shocked his heart with the keyblade and it obliterated the darkness from his heart." Sora then said, "It reminds me of the keyblade Riku had when Ansem controlled him. It could unlock peoples' hearts too. It could make them embrace darkness while this one embraces light."

Victor then said, "That's why I gave you this little trinket Henry. I received a letter from your father telling me to come and help you guys at the uttermost convenience. He told me that you were to be a chosen one and I had data on Sora's keyblade so in other words I created a weapon similar to his. While I was doing that research, I found something interesting. I found a book that belonged to my father. It explained that he wielded the very first keyblade. He created it from nothing, but an idea. He made it to assist others who were suffering or in pain. He made it so powerful and deadly that he used it on people he didn't like. Soon enough it started to control him. But before all was lost, my mother came into his life and convinced him he was the keyblade's master, not the other way around." Valadain then awoke Felicia with one kiss and then as the girl stood up and opened her blue eyes to become exposed to world, she noticed the Digidestined, Valadain, Torahne, Tyrannius, Victor, Henry, and everyone else crowding around her.

She then said, "What's going on? Do I have a zit or something?" Valadain then said holding her chin, "I can't believe it. It's really you. After all these years I have found you. I'm so happy." Felicia then said, "Valadain. I'm sorry about the night before I was captured. I was listening to you express yourself and I never got a chance to express my feelings." Valadain raised his left hand in the air and replied, "What's important is that we're together once more. After all of this time, we're together." As Valadain kissed Felicia on the lips, Tyrannius stuck out his tongue and put his right index finger almost inside his mouth in disgust. Kairi started to cry and Sora held her as he patted her on the back to comfort her. Valadain and Felicia then stood up and Tyrannius then said, "As much as I'd love to see you guys smooch all day, I have business to attend to on Saryu." As the man walked away, Valadain then said, "Tyrannius, no matter where you go or what you do, know that you're always going to be my friend, alright?" Tyrannius looked over his shoulder and nodded and he ran out of the main door disappeared into a smoke screen he deployed.

Victor and the others then asked about what had happened and Valadain said because of Tyrannius and his assistance, he ended a long decade search for Felicia. Torahne then used his keyblade to summon a brown portal. Valadain then said, "I'd advise going to the tiny village of Acronomia. There's been some commotion going on there you might want to check out. I would go myself, but Felicia and I have to go to Terraneus and help her people out there." Sora and the others nodded and then another portal appeared on Izzy's laptop. Tai said, "We'd better head off too. There's no telling what's going on in our world." Victor nodded and replied, "Go on and get out here. The Squadron's got a lot of tricks up their sleeves." Then as they all left, Valadain and Felicia disappeared as well. The only thing left was a note from the tall guy himself. It read that if they ever needed him for anything, all they had to do was give a whistle and shout. The group, including Torahne and Victor then stepped into the portal and it closed tightly behind them. There was nothing left, but a damaged throne room and the candles and remains of pews in the throne room.

(There you have it you guys. Henry can wield a keyblade and the significance about this will be later referenced in this story as well as the Legend Begins. It really has a lot to do with the person's feelings, so stay tuned. I'll see if I can do another chapter on Christmas Eve or Day, whichever I have the most time to do it on.)

(Next Time: Caroling on Christmas Day.)

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	17. Chapter 16

**Caroling on Christmas Day**

As Sora, Riku, Torahne, Victor, Kairi, Henry and the others appeared in the world that Torahne summoned them to with the keyblade, they couldn't help, but take a good look at the scenery around them. There was a giant, white brick, and the tone of the texture of the castle they saw, seemed to give off a soothing rapture as the group gazed upon it from the lowlands below. Underneath the castle was over a hundred feet of solid rock and cliffs and beside it were huge mountains naturally designed in a way to make the castle seemed nestled at the centre of the valley they were in. The entire area was covered in acres and acres of evergreen trees and the entire forest was covered in a thick, cold, icy, blanket of snow. What's more the entire sky was cloudy and it had just started to snow as well, adding on more and more of the white stuff to the land. Sora stared up at the castle and then asked, "Hey Torahne, are you sure this is Acronomia? I don't recall there being any mountains on Saryu." Torahne then replied, "It isn't unfortunately. I think I might have overshot it when we were back at Castle Imorgia. What's worse I'm low on energy and can't do anything until I get something to eat." Kairi then said, "So you mean to tell us that we're stuck in this cold wasteland for as long as it takes to get a bite?" "Let's not panic you guys? Maybe Victor can get us out this right?", Mickey replied. Sora then said, "Yeah, of course. You got the powers of light and all. You could transport all of us from this place to wherever we need to go." Victor shook his head and then replied, "It's not that simple you guys. In order to do that I need to know where 'here' is. Otherwise I can't navigate out of this place."

Then Henry attempted to sit on a rock and Victor grabbed his hand and then spat into the air. There a loud crack in the air and then Henry asked, "Ummm… okay, Victor are you alright?" Victor replied, "I don't want you to sit down. You'll lose body warmth and catch hypothermia that way. Plus I spat in the air to get a good idea of how cold it is." Henry then began to stood up and Mickey then replied, "Oh yeah, that's right. People from Victor's planet often said they could tell how cold it was in the mountains or any cold area on the Earth just by spitting into the air. If it makes a cracking sound, and depending on how loud it is, it usually determines how cold the area is." Henry and the others then nodded and Torahne replied, "It is getting late though. Maybe we could ask for some help at the castle just above us." Riku then said, "One problem though is that must be at least 150-200 feet high. It'll take us hours to climb that. Plus we're all tired." Victor then said, "I may not be able to transport us from world to world just yet, but I can take us to that castle no problem." With one snap, the entire group found themselves on the castle grounds in less than a millisecond. As Sora looked over a nearby bronze castle railing he saw the ground from up high and as his stomach gurgled he replied, "Why is it that when people look at the ground from a high place they get queezy?" Riku then lightly punched Sora's right shoulder and then said, "It's because they don't use their heads as often when they should. If you're going to be scared of heights, then don't look." Sora then said, "Oh no I was just asking about it. I'm not really scared of heights, I'm just hungry which is why my stomach is rumbling." Victor then ran up to the wooden, chiseled, castle gates that seemed to stretch high into the sky and saw a golden knocker on each door and then took the one on the right and banged it lightly on the door. It slowly opened and the group then traveled inside.

As they did they saw many stairways going in different directions, a seemingly infinite amount of floors on each level of the castle, and at the centre was a giant chandelier just hanging above a twenty foot wide, Golden Fleece covered table. The table was also covered in a huge blanket of turkey feasts, pork chops, salads, potatoes, cheese cakes, and many different varieties of wine everywhere. The castle also had a golden coloured texture to it as well all over the entire area making it look as spectacular as it was on the outside. The inside was decorated with garlands, wreaths, boughs of holly, and in the far right part of the castle at the top floor as the group stared up at the highest floor was a Christmas tree covered in many lights, decorations, ornaments, and an angel at the top to make it really stand out. Torahne then asked, "Hello? Is anybody here?" Before they all knew it, a group of red coated aristocrats, elderly women in purple dresses, children in tiny blue dresses and green robes came down each stairway on the first floor and then from the central stairway at the end of the first floor came a brunette as well as brown mustached man in his fifties, dressed in a finely cut red robe, black coloured silk overcoat covering his silky white shirt along with his redheaded mature looking wife who was dressed in a simple white gown, with white gloves covering her arms stepped down the stairs to greet the visitors at their door as well.

As the group was soon surrounded by many people, the king stepped forward towards them and stopped underneath the Chandelier and then asked, "What is your business here children? Don't you know we're in the middle of an important dinner?" Victor then looked at the others and Sora, pointed his left index finger to the king and everyone else was just shrugging their shoulders and Victor turned around and then replied, "Your majesty, I apologize if this seems like an intrusion…" "You're darn right this is an intrusion. It's simply atrocious at how you even just barged in here unannounced either.", the king replied. Victor then continued, "Your majesty, I am Victor, the chosen White Knight of Sanshobi, and this group behind me are my friends who are accompanying me too." The king and the entire royal crowd gasped and then Sora whispered to Riku, "I guess they don't have too many visitors." Kairi then shushed Sora and whispered, "I can't hear what they're saying." The king's jaw dropped as he asked slowly, "Did you say, 'the' White Knight?" Victor nodded and then the king replied, "Oh what an honour this is. Alphonze!!" As the King clapped, a dark man stepped down the stairs to their left. He was a tall man, slightly taller than Torahne, wore a dark tuxedo, had a rose in his left pocket, his shoes were finely polished and his blonde hair was finely trimmed to make him look distinguished, despite the fact he wore an aristocrat wig to make him look like nobility. He was very regal as well, excluding the fact that his nose was slightly crooked to make his handsome face less than perfection.

Alphonze then with his left arm lifted high and bent to show respect also bowed and then asked, "What is it that you would require of me your greatness?" "Show these children to their rooms. They require a place to stay for the night and I would want to treat them with the best accommodations royalty as to offer." Alphonze then stared at the group with his snidely crude eyes and then said, "Really your majesty? Why would we give host to such rabble?" The entire group gasped as they heard this and Donald ran right at him, with Riku and Sora hold both of his arms, quacking, "Who do you think you are? I'll rabble you into another part of the castle!!" Victor raised his right hand up to calm Donald and then said, "You have a good sense of who's rich and who's poor don't you Alphonze? Yet I see a man who's clearly not fit for nobility and doesn't deserve it." The man brushed himself off in a crude way as he raised his nose in the air and replied, "Well aren't you the expert? The king of the rabble speaks?" Victor then replied, "At least, I don't try sucking up to my boss." The king raised his hand and yelled, "Enough!! Both of You!! Now show them their rooms Alphonze, or so help me, I will see to it you be banished from my sight entirely for the rest of the evening." Alphonze nodded and then showed the group upstairs after Victor explained themselves and after the royal advisor of the king announced them of course. Victor and Henry followed the king and queen to a separate part of the castle. They could still hear Kairi even though they traveled up three large floors say, "Omigosh, this is gorgeous!! This room is so lovely and this bed design… just to die for!!" Victor and Henry couldn't help, but chuckle a little at this and Victor whispered to Henry, "That's girls for you Henry. They like their rooms as much as they like their guys to be clean and polished." The queen then said overhearing this, "The girl's just happy to see a room like that that's all. Our daughter, Princess Angelica is quite like this girl you all call Kairi." Henry then asked, "Is she nice?" The Queen replied, "Oh yes my child. She's such a darling and she always did see the best in people. She's about your age too. She just turned twelve a week ago."

The Queen showed them slightly into the room, that the princess was sleeping and Victor moved on with the king to his master chamber right next to the King and Queen's bedroom. The Queen then pointed to the girl's bed showing Henry, "That's her sleeping in the bed. Oh she looks just ravishing when she's asleep. Such an angel!!" Victor then exclaimed, "Oh wow!! There's a hot tub, a swimming pool and a billiard room in here too. Royalty, you gotta love it!!" Yet Henry was staring at Princess Angelica in her bedroom. Her face looked soft as plush pillows, her hair was sunny, blonde like that of a day at the beach, her pink nightgown was as 'pink' as that of dawn in the morning, and her bedroom was painted white and everything in there was white, except for her bed, which was quilted with many fine green robes and red curtains to block out sunlight in her room (since her room is so white, in the morning it would be impossible for her to sleep.) since her bed room window overlooked the eastern part of mountains from where the sun rises in the morning. Henry only kept staring at the girl though and he slightly blushed a little thinking, 'Wow. She's gorgeous. I can't believe how lovely she is and… wait a minute. Am I getting a crush on a princess?' Victor then noticed Henry and tapped him slightly as he said, "I didn't do anything I swear!!" Victor then replied while yawning, "Relax it's just me. It's getting late and (yawn) we should hit the 'hay'." He then noticed his race looking red and replied, "It must be hot in here, cuz your face is more red than a guy's back after a terrible tan. What's in that room anyway? The queen was saying something about it, but I wasn't really paying attention." Henry then stepped in front of Victor trying to block him and then exclaimed as his face got more redder, "No wait!! I mean you don't wanna go in there!! It's so boring and tacky and…" A yawn soon broke the silence in the room and the sound of someone tossing to one side soon became heard. Victor then smugly smiled and peered above Henry's head and noticed Princess Angelica sleeping in her bed. Victor then said, "Ohhhhhh, I see what's going on here." Henry turned even redder and said, "No you don't!! There's nothing going on here!!"

Victor then put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "My man, you got yourself your first taste of love. How does it feel?" Henry then said, "It's amazing I have to admit. I mean she looks so beautiful and from what the Queen has said, she seems like a nice girl. But I don't know how to talk to girls though about this kind of stuff." Victor then said, "Not a problem, just leave everything to me Henry. I'm an expert at this and I want to help you out." Henry then replied hugging Victor, "You mean it?" Victor nodded and Henry then said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!! This means a lot to me Vic!!" Victor then said patting the little guy on his back, "Nothing to it. Like I said, you're like a brother to me. That means I help those who are siblings of mine. Now let's get some sleep. (Yawn) I'm so exhausted I can barely feel my legs." Henry and Victor then went into their rooms as Victor showed Henry his room and they closed the doors behind them. Alphonze saw this from the third floor as he looked upon the castle and said, "I may be able to use this to my advantage after all. That boy will be the key to my coronation yet." Then a dark figure appeared behind Alphonze who turned out to be a man in a silver hooded suit and asked, "Is everything in place yet?" "Believe me, once the fireworks go of tomorrow on Christmas Day, the king will be no more!!", Alphonze replied. The silver hooded man then said, "It better be. Otherwise the deal is off and you will never get the crown!!" He snapped his fingers and then disappeared leaving Alphonze to think away about his thoughts of coronation.

(Alphonze sure has a lot to hide. What a guy? Henry has a crush on the princess, which I also liked as well. (stay tuned for more on that) Otherwise, this story has a lot more to cover when Christmas day occurs. I'll either have another chapter up tomorrow or the day after so again stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Christmas Day.)

(Review.)


	18. Chapter 17

**Christmas Day**

As Victor started to wake up, he noticed some foot stepping sounds coming from outside his door. He quickly got up, and snuck out the window. As he did though, while noticing the steep drop to the bottom of the valley from the castle walls, he noticed Torahne just right near his window as well sneaking out. He then said, "Couldn't sleep eh Vic?" "Something's not right. Don't you feel it too?", Victor asked. Torahne nodded and then said, "It feels like an ambush." They quickly started to climb the castle walls so as to get a good view of the inside to see what all the commotion was about.

Meanwhile, Sora and the others were all getting tied up, as well as the King and Queen along with the aristocrats right underneath the tree where dozens upon dozens of presents were wrapped and stored for the pitter patter of little feet to go and rush off to. Unfortunately, the only pitter patter was that of marching men in black hooded suits and a single silver hooded man appeared from the dark portal that appeared at the door way. The King then said, "I demand to know who's behind all of this!! This is an outrage!!" "Oh really? You really didn't know did you your majesty?" Alphonze slowly stepped down the stairs with the entire group of Sora and co. gritting their teeth and glaring at the man with such determined optimism of his plans succeeding. "Alphonze? How could you do such a thing? I am your king!!", the King replied. "It's simple. I wanted to be king in the first place. If you all look at this little transcript I found in the Chamber of Knowledge…" He slowly unraveled a scroll to reveal the lineage of monarchs of their family tree, and right near where he pointed to the King and Queen was a spot where he was at, but one higher than them. Traditionally, any monarch, who hasn't passed on and was one branch higher, was destined to be king/queen.

Riku then said, "Doesn't mean you have the right to kidnap all of us." "Oh, but you're wrong my white haired youth. This man here has business to attend with all of you. I do believe you have something of value that he desires." The silver hooded man stepped towards Sora and knelt down to his level. Sora glared at the man as he stared into his blue eyes as he said, "My how the tables have turned. You're all trapped like rats, while the 'Squadron' will succeed in their plans for domination of the universe." "You won't get away with this whoever you are.", Sora angrily replied. The silver hooded man lifted his hood as he revealed a man that looked like that of Xaldin of Organization XIII. He then said, "My name is Eailox. Remember it well my young friends. You won't be alive for very long." He then reached into Sora's pant pockets and snatched the destiny crest from Pocahontas' world. Henry then said, "You'd better give that back. Or else!!" Eailox then stood up and as he walked away, he snidely replied, "Or else what? You'll skin me alive!!" Torahne and Victor were on the roof top of the Castle and noticed a nearby glass window that overlooked the Main Lobby Chamber in which the group was tied up and surrounded by 'Squadron' members. Torahne then jumped and broke the glass as he grabbed the chandelier and then said as he snatched the destiny crest from Eailox, "Nope, but you might regret doing that though!!" Sora and the others smiled as they also saw Victor drop down from the same window and untied his friends as well as Angelica and the King and Queen. Eailox angrily frowned as Torahne landed in front of him smiling with confidence, and said, "So the great Xehanort finally shows himself!! You're not even half the man the 'Lord' is you little ingrate!!" Torahne then put the destiny crest in his pocket as he asked, "What's the matter? You don't wanna play with us, just because we're all ganging up on you?"

Alphonze grabbed the King's Sword as he grabbed Angelica and scornfully yelled, "Nobody move. Or else the little princess will have a sliced neck for breakfast!!" Henry then yelled, "No!! You monster!! You better let her go." "Or you'll do what? Fight me?" Victor then transformed into his armoured self in his white knight armour and this time he had a white cape tied around his neck to which the King replied, "That's why Alphonze!!" the King being as strong as he was then punched the man as he threw the girl high into the air. The King then yelled, "Angelica!!" as Henry ran and caught her in mid-air. He then said as they landed and he put her down to rest on the ground, "You'll be alright now!! Take care alright?" Henry stared at the girl's gorgeous blue eyes as she looked worried for him and she then said, "You saved my life!! I don't know how to repay you for this." Henry smiled confidently and said, "There's no need, but it's not safe to be around here though." As Henry said this, fighting broke out amongst the people of the castle as the untied aristocrats took out their swords and dueled many of the squadron hooded men. Sora and the others also took out their keyblades and transformed into their armoured selves to fight off Eailox and Alphonze. A barrier soon appeared around Victor, Torahne, Riku, Kairi, Sora, and Henry as they split up. Sora sliced Alphonze's shirt, as he kicked the boy to the ground and scraped his neck. Riku then jumped on top of him, but Alphonze shook him right off and blasted him with a laser coming from his left hand. "I also happen to be a professional sorcerer children!! I can also do things like this!!" He then zapped Riku and Victor and they both were frozen stiff like ice.

Torahne then clashed his keyblade with Eailox's silver rapier as he said, "Mighty fine weapon there Xehanort!! I hope it plays well in your death!!" Eailox then clashed left, right, left, right and then threw the keyblade to the ground and flicked Torahne into the wall near the wooden door. Henry then ran in with his grey sword and zapped his heart. Eailox then struggled to stand as he collapsed on his knees and yelled, "Such pain, what is that weapon?" Henry then yelled, "It's a keyblade. This one has the ability to purify peoples' hearts. I guess by the looks of things, you were created from pure darkness, which means you're as good as gone!!" Then Henry felt something stab right through his heart. Kairi then screamed as Sora ran in and clashed with Alphonze and punched him as hard as he could. Torahne then stood up and ran right at Eailox and tackled him to the ground. He punched him ten times and took his own sword from him and raised it above his heart, as the soulless man struggled to regain himself. "Say goodbye, you little jerk!! By the way, I'm not Xehanort. My name is Torahne!!!!!!!!", Torahne yelled as he drew the swords down and spewed blood from the man ending his life. Eailox, then dissolved into dust and from it his heart appeared. It then flew into the sky and disappeared into a single poof of fluffy clouds. Victor then regained himself as he grabbed Alphonze and tied him up in a single second. "You won't be causing trouble anytime soon!!", Victor snidely said as he knelt down to an angry looking Alphonze and put a sash tied around his mouth.

The 'Squadron army was all, but disappeared and Sora was holding Kairi as they both were crying. Riku looked to the ground with his hands in his pockets and leaning on a nearby wall as Torahne did the same in kind. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were all sitting on the ground staring to the ground as well looking concerned for the injured Henry. Victor knelt down beside the wounded boy and then said, "It's okay Henry, this won't hurt a bit." Henry then asked while holding Victor's hand tightly, "Victor, Am I going to die?", as he said this Angelica rushed to Henry's side and said shedding a few tears then said, "Oh please!! Don't go!!" Sora then asked, "You can bring him back to life though, right?" The others were still crying as Sora said this and repeated himself asking while slowly on the edge of more tears, "Right?" Victor then said, "I wish there was more I could do. Sanshobian people are different than the rest of the universe. I'm not even sure if I can bring him back." Sora then asked, "So you mean he's … Arrghhhh!!!" Sora then ran to the Royal Table in the centre of the Main Lobby and punched the table five times, as Kairi ran to keep the boy calm. Torahne then kneeled and took out a bottle filled with a pink liquid. He opened the bottle and said to Henry, "Drink up my man!!" As Henry did this, Victor stared at Torahne who then said, "It's a Healer's potion. It can heal any wound and bring back recently dead people within a day's limit. I didn't think I'd have to use it until now I guess." The group then noticed Henry start to stand up as he brushed himself off and most of them, excluding Torahne, Riku and Victor gawking and had their jaws dropped to the floor at how he was able to stand up unharmed. Henry then smiled as he said, "What is this a staring contest? We should be partying."

Alphonze was thrown in jail slightly before the party for treason and threats of assassinating the royal family. Eventually, hours later during the party and after presents were opened, as the entire group began to boogey on the dance floor, Henry noticed Victor drinking some wine at the table and then told him, "I'm going to go ask Angelica to dance with me. Wish me luck." Victor then said drinking, "Luck." Henry laughed a little and then ran off to ask the girl his heart warming question. He noticed her nearby the tree holding a doll she just opened up. He ran smiling towards her, but his smile slowly dropped as he saw 'him'. He noticed a red haired, freckled boy in a set of brown clothes sitting beside her and talking to her. They were both laughing at how adorable the doll looked and how sweet it was of him to get it for her. "I talked to the King and he said that Angelica was to be marrying that little guy there when they grew up. His name's Phillip. Apparently, he's one of the aristocrats sons.", Victor replied as he put his hands on the shoulders of a disappointed Henry.

Henry's eyes started to form some tears as he said, "I thought she liked me though. I saved her life and risked everything for her." Victor then said into his hear kneeling to his level, "They look happy together though, don't they?" "Yeah, I can't just ruin that kind of love. Even if it hurts me, I can't just ruin it." Victor then looked at the disappointed boy staring at the ground as he patted his little back and held him saying, "It's okay Henry. It's okay." Henry then couldn't hold it in any longer. He just had to cry sometime. He then collapsed in Victor's warm arms as he just patted his back. "If it's any consolation I had women troubles too at your age.", Victor replied. Henry just kept crying so much Victor's black shirt was starting to get wet. Sora and the others noticed this as well as Sora said, "Poor little guy." Kairi then said, "That's so sad. He wanted to be with the girl so much and she's already happy with someone else." Riku then replied to this saying, "He'll get over it though." Sora and Kairi listened and nodded as Torahne then said, "It's tough being a kid at that age. There are many, many challenges for him to face and let's face it. None of them are ever easy." As they pondered the situation, Victor carried Henry to the table.

Henry then asked slowly raising his head from Victor's shoulder while looking at him, "Victor?" "Yeah Henry?", Victor asked. "How did you get over stuff like this when you were my age.", the little guy asked. Victor then replied scratching the little guy's hair as he sat down in a chair at the table, "Well I guess I just always thought of the 'bright side'. I mean wherever there's always misery, sorrow, and all of that bad stuff that makes your stomach queasy…" as Victor said this, he tickled Henry's stomach to which he chuckled a little trying to push his hand away, "…there's always something good that happens. Angelica for instance may not have shown you the same affection you would have wanted, but look at it this way. You saved her life. The King told me that you're getting a special gift from him before we leave." Henry smiled and then asked gasping, "Really?" "Really, really. Angelica means everything in the world to him. I'd be happy too if someone rescued my little brother."

Henry then hugged Victor tightly saying, "Thanks Victor. You've really made me feel a lot better." Victor patted his back saying, "Not a problem. Not let's go find the King shall we?" As Henry ran off the table tugging Victor's right hand and running off into the castle, Sora and the others were just talking about the situation as Sora said, "Well would you look at that. Victor's got a lot of good stuff to say to cheer anybody up huh?" Torahne then replied with the entire group looking his way and listening, "I noticed it the day he first came to the 'Training Academy'. He always did make me smile even when I was down myself. He always did have good optimism about me and that we were all meant for good things no matter what kind of a person we were." More hours later after the party, Torahne opened a portal from the world the King and Queen called the Arithirai Mountains, to another world and as the entire group ventured inside the portal, Victor and Henry remained to see what the King had to give Henry.

Henry was told to kneel down and the King then said, "For outstanding bravery, courage, and having a heart like a lion to risk everything for my daughter's safety, I dub you Henry the Gallant, and you are officially a knight of the Arithirai Mountains. I also am giving you a medal of honour to show that you are part of our royal regime as well." Henry then received the gold plated medal in his hands and put it on his shirt. He then stood up and the King hugged the boy saying, "Now I want you to take care of that medal. Do I make myself clear?" Henry nodded and smiled saying, "Loud and clear sir." Henry then ran off into the portal as did Torahne. As Victor headed for the portal, the King asked, "Victor?" The boy turned to face the King as he said, "Take care of the boy. He means a lot to the people of the Arithirai Mountains as he does to the people of Sanshobi." Victor nodded as he said, "I will sacrifice my own mind, body, and soul to ensure his safety." Victor then ran off into the portal as it closed shut behind him. As the portal closed, snow started to fall in the area, and the royal aristocrats, King, Queen, and Angelica headed inside and closed the doors.

(Pretty sad near the end, but that's how life is right? First crushes as I saw my friends experience it sucked ass and that's how Henry feels at the moment. But he's a good sport though. I also got more on that whole heart situation that happened to Eailox as he died that will soon be revealed as well so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Book of Secrets)

(Review.)


	19. Chapter 18

**The Book of Secrets**

"Where am I?", Victor thought as he looked about inside a giant dark, cold cave. Henry and the others were no where in sight. He began searching the inside of the cave and used his imaginative powers to create a flashlight for him to use. No luck had been found. Then as Victor was leaping past some stalagmites, something caught the edge of his right eye. He turned and no one was there. As he turned around, he looked somemore. Then in front of him came a sword to his face. It was none other than Darkness. "Hello again, traitor!!" "I thought I smelt something foul and disgusting", Victor replied as he shook the sword out of his sight. Darkness then made a huge amount of copies of himself surrounding Victor. Darkness then glared at the youth who frowned at him with utter enragement and Victor then asked, "So what brings you here in this neck of the woods? Too chicken to face my friends like a warrior?" "Very melodramatic boy!! All things come to those who wait don't they? Besides, I'm sure you've heard of the 'Book of Secrets'." Victor then said pointing his right eyebrow up to make himself look intrigued and crossed his arms together to make himself look tought as he said, "I've heard legends of it amongst the peoples of Sanshobi. It's been said that the very key to unlocking the Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness. The people also mentioned about a curse as well. It's said that anyone who holds the Book itself will be cursed so long as that person or being possesses it." Darkness then remorphed into one being as he laughed and said, "That is if you were a complete being to begin with. You my dear boy don't even qualify to be a being in the first place, but rather half a man. Men are never complete without anger which is why the book won't curse you. I've found out personally the book doesn't attack beings per say, but rather the anger they have and the darkness they contain." Victor then said, "So I see. Now then, where are my friends?" Darkness then said, "See for yourself." 

Victor then awoke from his dream as he saw he was in a red sleeping bag next to a warm campfire and hovering over him was a green haired white skinned boy smiling. Victor then asked, "Something funny?" Victor then noticed Torahne, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Sora, Donald, and Goofy gather around him as well. Victor then asked flushing a little as they closed in on his personal space, "Did I die?" Torahne then said, "Almost. When we went through the portal to this cave, we saw you collapse on the ground. I then saw a poison dart launched into your neck. I thought it would've been one of those Squadron members, but it was made of Darkness though." Victor then said sharply, "It was Darkness. He's here you guys. We gotta get...ow." Victor then felt a sharp pain in his spine as he said this and Kairi, Riku, and Sora forced him down into the sleeping bag. Sora then said, "We're not going anywhere until you heal up." Victor then nodded as he said, "Sora, once again you never fail to amaze me with your kindess. Listen you guys. I had a weird dream just now, and it wasn't a pretty one at that." Kairi then asked, "What about? I think I speak for all of us here when I say we're gonna find out at some point or another." Then Victor went on about the supposed Book of Secrets and the dark powers it had. Once a mighty king from the Nether Realm fell ill and there was no cure for his disease. People searched far and wide for an antidote to his extreme condition, but all failed. He was surely going to die, until a merchant that is arrived as a guest in his kingdom and offered a book to him that could create a spell enchantment that would cure him and grant him extreme health as well. The only catch was he would have to sacrifice one of newborn children. He refused to do so, and from that moment on the Book of Secrets was cursed to any living creature that had darkness in his/her soul. Victor also told of Darkness to Riku and the others who hadn't gazed upon him with great detail and told of his experiences with him. Riku then said, "To think, I was travelling in the Corridor of Darkness with that creep's power." Sora then grabbed at his shoulder saying, "You didn't know Riku. You didn't know." Victor then said, "I know this may sound crazy, but I actually know where the book is."

The group gasped as Goofy asked, "You do Victor sir?" Victor then said, "No need for formalities Goofy and yes I do know oddly enough. We don't have much time though. We have to go grab the book before it's too late." Then Sora asked, "What's the rush? You sense danger or something like that?" Victor then grabbed Sora's right shoulder as he said, "You could say that. Now then, we should get moving." The group did as Victor said and Henry and Sora grabbed Victor by each of his arms and carried him as they walked in the directions he told them to go towards. They took a left though some spooky caverns, a right down a maze of boulders, and fell through a large sewer and eventually arrived in a large golden room with treasure all around the place and at the centre was a large red carpeted stage with a brown and green paged book on a large silver pedastel at its centre. Sora then said, "Woah. Check this place out. We could buy ourselves a whole hotel with all of this gold." Riku then said, "Something tells me it's too quiet and we've only been here for less than thirty seconds." Victor then said with as much strength as he could since the poison was weakening him, "You're not alone. I feel it too Riku. Torahne, grab the book as fast as you can. I can sense a booby trap on the pedastel." Torahne then said, "Don't they all have booby traps? We went through a large cavern and down a smelly sewer to get here, how could it not?" Victor then said, "I don't got much time. Besides the book might have an antidote in there for my poison." As Torahne grabbed the book the group heard a sinister laugh as well covering the entire room. Riku then drew out his keyblade and transformed as did Henry, Kairi, Mickey and Sora. Kairi then asked, "Oh why does that laugh sound so familiar?" Sora then glared through his golden suit to say, "I think I can give you a good guess as to why Kairi." Then in a thick smoke of black fog appeared a black skinned boy that looked like Victor and Sora then said, "Darkness."

"So glad you remember me boy. It's been so long. Thanks to Victor here I now have the means to literally control the Destiny Crests without actually evening having to possess them. I of course couldn't touch the 'Book of Secrets' because the pedastel was preventing me from doing so. And thanks to your little friend I have the means of destroying you little pests once and for all!!" Riku then asked at random, "Why'd you use me? You played me like a fool and tempted me to fight Sora." Darkness then laughed sinisterly and said, "Because my boy. I was taking over Destiny Island all those years ago and was going after Sora, but you were competing against the lad and I knew to get to him I would need you to do it and you played your part well like a loyal pawn just as Torahne did so here. Both of you were needed to extract my vengeance on this ruthsome traitor!! Now thanks to my poison he's weak and even though I can't personally kill Victor, I can still get rid of you all and you can't even harm me!!" Sora then said as he took out his Sword of Light and said, "We'll see about that!!" Yet Darkness duplicated himself into hundreds of copies and surrounded the group and he actually started to make the entire group quiver in fear as he laughed and said, "You think you can stand up to me fools? Well try it. Let's see your power!!" Then they began to attack. Yet even when they slashed on of Darkness' clones, two more appeared and the copies then began attacking themselves and scratched the group up bad. Sora then said as he held one guy off from cutting up Kairi, "There's too many of them. We're gonna have to retreat!" Torahne then said, "I got the book in hand so we should just get on out of here." Victor then stood up and said as he transformed into his suit, "Get out of here...now!!" Sora's eyes widened as did Henry's as Henry then said, "But Victor, you still have Darkness' poison." "I'll be fine. Listen, I know things look bad, but trust me. If I stay and hold off Darkness, you guys can make your escape from the cave and take the book with you. At least if you guys have it, the Squadron will be looking high and low for it. They've been targeting my brothers and I. They could care less about you guys." Torahne then said, "But you're still wounded Victor. It's suicide to fight in a small place like this. One small knick in the right spot and the sewer could collapse." Victor then said as he grabbed onto Torahne's right shoulder, "Protect Henry. I leave him in your hands now old friend!!" Torahne had tears forming in his eyes as he grabbed Victor's right arm saying, "With my life, old comrade!" Then Torahne grabbed Henry and Sora, as Mickey and Riku did to Kairi, Donald and Goofy who tried to persist to help aid Victor. But it was too late.

Victor ran in and clashed with the original copy of Darkness and as he looked deep into his dark yellow eyes, he said, "Ready for the time of your life?" Darkness then said slithering his tongue, "I've been waiting for this dance ever since you banished me boy!! I only wish it were in a more suitable arena." Victor destroyed all of the copies and slashed Darkness at his heart. Darkness then smacked Victor against the walls of gold to his left and the place started to cave in. Sora and Henry heard this, meanwhile and rushed on back to try and get Victor out. Yet even as the group travelled down the sewers once again, the sight looked dim. The entire tunnel to the golden room was gone. The only thing that remained was rocks, rocks and more rocks covering the once open passage. Henry then started to form tears in his eyes as he said silently, "No!!" He then ran towards the rocks and grabbed onto a big one as he looked up at the huge wall of boulders and yelled, "NO!!" as he raised both of his hands in the air clenched as fists and and smacked the wall. Sora ran up to the boy as Henry ran to him and collapsed crying in Sora's arms. Yet even Sora was crying himself. Mickey was staring at the ground in disappointment and failure written on his face and Kairi was crying on Riku's shoulder as even the tough guy himself shed a small tear in his right eye himself. Torahne meanwhile looked at the book he held and said wiping off the dust on it, "All this over a stupid book!! I should've just burned this piece garbage." Mickey then said looking up, "It wouldn't do us any better Torahne. You know that. Victor would have wanted us to keep the book if any of us were in the same situation. It's up to us now." Kairi then said remorsing some more, "He can't be gone!! He just can't." Riku then handed the girl to Sora and Sora said as he patted Kairi's back, "Unfortunately, things don't look so good at the moment. But I know he's not gone. Victor'll be just fine Kairi." Sora smiled as he said this and tried to comfort her, even though the others knew it was a bleak attempt. There was no other way out except for that tunnel and it was next to impossible to dig through without creating a bigger cave in. Meanwhile, in the shadows, a man in a brown hooded suit said into his cellphone on his left wrist, "HQ, it's Ryolo. One of the MVC has fallen. I repeat, Victor of the MVC has been lost in action, leaving his little friends vulnerable." The Lord replied, "Excellent. Things may be going our way after all. Get rid of the pests and bring me the green haired boy at once. Our victory is at hand!!" Ryolo then said loyally, "Yes my lord. Your every order...I shall obey!!"

(Quite a predicament, but worth the long wait which I apologize for doing in the first place. There is more than meets the eye to the 'Book of Secrets' (I used the Transformers line because it is probably going to be in a story of mine in the near future and I'm either thinking this one, or perhaps Perfect Trio.). Anyways, it seems depressing now since Victor has supposedly, 'kicked the bucket', but there's more to come so stay tuned. I guarantee I'm going to keep going from here and not leave you hanging. (I solemnly swear!! lol.)

(Next Time: Reunions Unfold.)

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	20. Chapter 19

Reunions Unfold

The group then heard a shocking kaboom come from their right and when the smoke cleared they saw it was Ryolo. Sora took out his keyblade and transformed into his armour and then said, "Take one step further and you'll be eating my dust!!" Ryolo then teleported in front of Kairi and as she transformed, Ryolo grabbed the girl just as everyone else transformed and got out their weapons. He then replied, "I would drop your weapons, otherwise your girl won't be looking so hot when I'm through with her." As the brown hooded man laughed, Kairi screamed to the top of her lungs, "Sora, help me!!" Yet before he could do anything, they saw a little guy kick Ryolo and he was in clothes that looked like Mario from Nintendo. Then a tall boy next to him arrived and pointed a laser gun at Ryolo's face as he said, "We meet again then don't we?" Ryolo then said as he disappeared into a thicket of smoke and ash, "I'll be back Mike. I swear I will!!"

Mickey and the others then smiled and cheered as Sora said, "You cut it a little close there." Mike then said, "We wanted to give you guys a chance to fend him off. By the way, I know this isn't on topic, but where's Vic?" Then the group's smiles faded and Torahne said silently and pointed to the huge mass of rubble in front of them, "We found this book in a room over there. Victor was holding off Darkness while we escaped. He didn't make it out." Kairi then ran back crying in Sora's arms as did Henry into Torahne's arms. Mike then asked, "So you are then?" "Oh sorry, it's Torahne. I was friends with Victor at the Training Academy. It's been a while since I last saw him." Mike then replied, "This is serious. Look, I know this may sound tough, but we have to move on. With Victor gone, there's no telling what the Squadron's capable of. Now then show me the book." Torahne gave Mike the book as he asked Chris, "Can you hand me my laptop?" Chris then gave Mike a slim grey looking laptop and he then typed a few words into it as the group grieved and came to their senses. After a whole half hour Mike then replied, "Well that should do it. After what you guys all mentioned, it does seem to be true." The whole group gathered as Mike began to translate the texts. They were written in a cross between French and Germanic lettering and patterns and seemed to have a hint of Anglican as well. Mike began, "From the roof of our world, shall come flying crows and bats. In the blink of an eye, a lone warrior will stand to protect the loved ones of those he has been sent to protect, from a summit so high, it dwarfs the great Everest. From that peak, shall come two sets of doors: Tranquility and Perfidiousness. With one final battle, shall decide the fate of 'the chosen' and the key to life."

Torahne then asked, "That's it?" Mike nodded and Riku then replied, "Well that made a lot sense. What does it all mean?" Mickey then replied with the group gasping and looking at him, "It's a prophecy." Mike continued, "That's right. This means we have a lot of trouble on our hands. The Squadron probably knows we have the book and will stop at nothing to get it. Mickey, since you alone and Torahne have enough power to defend the group, I'm leaving the Destiny Crests we got in your hands." Mike then handed Mickey four Destiny Crests: a silver ring with a brown jewel at its centre, a red one (ruby), a green one (emerald), and a yellow one (topaz) to add to the blue one (sapphire) they had. Sora then said shocked, "You have four more?!" Mike nodded and said, "We're pretty close to have the rest and I know there sole locations. Now then after looking through the universe I have pinpointed the one place in the universe that the book depicts. Apparently you're headed to Mars." The group nodded as Riku asked, "Won't the Squadron suspect where we're all going off to in such a hurry?" Mike shook his head as he replied, "Remember, they're trying to collect souls to quench their craving for life. They're likely too busy to try and fight you guys every time trouble arises."

Then Torahne asked bluntly, "Do you think there is a chance that he's still alive?" Mike then pondered this as the group mourned again, "It looks slim, but I wouldn't give up hope. He's part of my family after all. We're as close as friends as much as Riku here is to Sora. We're that close and we always have been rivals. Besides, if I can, I will search for a way to bring him back if he is gone." The group then lifted their spirits as Sora asked with a great big smile getting in Mike's personal space, "You will?" Mike then pushed the kid down on his butt as he said, "Yes. Now you guys ought to get going. There's no telling what sort of mischief they'll cause if we don't leave now!!" Then Mike and Chris disappeared into a black portal, leaving the group behind to ponder a bit. Kairi then asked, "So how do we get to Mars then? Without Victor we don't have a means of getting from world to world." Torahne then asked, "What am I? Chop liver?" Kairi then lightly punched Torahne and smiled as she said, "I'm kidding." Torahne then created a black portal of his own and the group entered inside not knowing where it would go next."

Meanwhile, back at the Squadron's HQ, The Lord was sitting in his chair in the dark as the next few hooded men arrived and He then said, "You're late." "My apologies my Lord, but we have brought you the legendary Oracle Handmaidens." Then a group of grey hooded men with spears pointed them at Corona and Aqune and told them to head inside. The Lord then stood up still in the darkness of his private, boardroom looking quarters and walked towards his most trusted man in a black hooded suit. The black hooded man then said, "It wasn't easy, but we have them in our clutches now." The Lord then said, "Excellent. Now we have a means to get the remaining Destiny Crests. If we're lucky we may find a lead and trap the MVC in their time of weakness. Then Michael shall fall and a new dawn will arise where I will reign supreme." Corona and Aqune stared at the giant that was the Lord in fear. He was mighty big, about the size of Mantid, and even though his face and body was covered in darkness, they could noticed inside his hooded suit, was his hair flowing and white, as well as his eyes sparkled when hints of light shot right at the pupils directly.

Victor awoke to find himself not in the room he was in, fighting Darkness, but on a large mountain with snowy peaks all around him. He shouted out, "Hello? Is anybody there?" Blizzards covered the peaks and Victor then turned around to see a nearby cave to huddle into. He ran as fast as he could, tripped and kept running again. As he entered inside, he saw staring eyes in the darkness. They seemed to be getting closer to him as he saw the exit out was blocked by snow. Surrounded by nothing, but stalagmites and beady stalkers, he then said, "Okay this isn't funny anymore. Come out, you can't hide forever!" As Victor saw the people that came out from darkness he couldn't believe it. It was Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippo. Victor then rubbed his eyes in disbelief as Inuyasha then said, "You don't have to stare at us like a dolt you know." Victor then ran in and hugged Inuyasha as the whole group closed in for his embrace. Victor then replied, "I don't believe it!! Are you guys alright? Have the Squadron got your world too?" Inuyasha nodded as he said, "We were on our way to fighting Naraku yet again and these hooded guys appeared and trapped us. We only managed to escape because Shippo had a special trick up his sleeve." Victor then replied, "Good ol' Shippo. What would we do without him?" Kagome then asked, "So Victor, how'd you get here? The last time we saw you was a year ago. You said goodbye to us and hoped for the best for us in our fight against you know who." Victor then began to explain everything he did since his fight in the Eternal Beyond (will get to that eventually in the Perfect Trio), meeting Sora, fighting Darkness multiple times, etc. Elsewhere, Mike and Chris were searching from world to world for their desired Destiny Crests. Even more so, Sora and the others made it to a world, but again, Torahne wasn't the best at teleporting and they found themselves in a pretty 'sticky' situation. Would anything turn out okay in the end?

(Not one of the best I'm sure, and pretty short, but it's still something. The Destiny Crests hold a lot of power and many other secrets as well. There's a lot to come in this story so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: A New Adventure Begins.)

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	21. Chapter 20

A New Adventure Begins

(For the beginning part, I would listen to the Other Promise. It really outlines the main theme of it.)

A poor defenseless Roxas was stared down by different coloured cloaked men everywhere. He was cut near his right leg and his left ankle was sprained and bruised. To make matters worse, his left rib was struck hard and he could hardly even think. A black hooded man stepped in front of the boy as he was in a similar setting that looked Organization XIII's meeting place (basically that white pillar with all of the chairs everywhere in different heights.). Roxas summoned the kingdom key and yelled, "I told you guys I don't have anything." The black hooded man took out his rapier and replied, "You foolish kid. You don't even realize who you're talking to, do you? I am a part of the Squadron. You're coming with me and that's that." Roxas then yelled slashing three then four of the hooded guys, "Never!!" Then the black hooded man sliced the keyblade out from his hands and he said, "Not a wise move boy. Take him now, we have unfinished business to attend to." Then Roxas covered his face with his arms as his pursuers were about to grab him. Suddenly a flash of a blinding white light came and they all disappeared excluding the black hooded man who remained. Roxas uncovered his face to realize it was Victor in his white armour. Roxas asked surprised, "But why? Why?" Victor replied holding his sword in hand, "There's no time to explain Roxas. Come with me if you want to live." The black hooded man then said, "That's impossible. How are you still alive? You shouldn't even be here. I was told that you were crushed underneath rocks." Victor then clashed his sword with the black hooded man and sliced a piece of his hood off revealing his chest which started to bleed. He then said, "You'd be surprised as to what I can do."

The hooded man tried slicing Victor's chest back, but the boy back slashed his moves and intercepted his sword, punched him in the stomach and then ran. He grabbed Roxas and saw a set of stairs that he could use. "Why are you carrying me?", Roxas asked. "You're too beat up for any excess movements. I'd take it easy if I were you. Now I'm going to save your life whether you want me to or not." All around the stairs and up in the sky, were hooded men firing shots at them from all angles. Yet Victor kept running, and running. Roxas slightly consciousness now thought, 'Victor…I don't know why you're doing this…but thanks…friend.'

Victor kept running and saw a light at the end of their trek and ran through it. He found himself back in the same cave where Inuyasha and his group were in as well. Victor then put Roxas on the floor of the cave and closed the doorway up. Inuyasha then said looking upon the blonde kid and noticing his wounds, "This looks bad Vic. The guy looks like he got run over by a semi." Miroku then replied saying, "Still Inuyasha, we have to help the boy right? We can't just ignore another human being's misery." So then, Miroku took out a few white bandages and Kagome noticed the boy was starting to come to again and was about to panic when Victor approached Roxas and said, "It's okay, you're safe now. I'm not sure how, but it seems as if you're able to separate from Sora. My guess it has to do with the Destiny Crests." Roxas then stood up and yelled in agony as Kagome bandaged him up saying, "Try not to squirm so much. It'll hurt a lot more if you try to move in all directions." Roxas then asked, "Who are you?"

Then after some brief introductions of Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippo, Victor then said, "It seems as if the Destiny Crests can also separate key elements from a person as well. I've heard legends that they're so powerful, even the heartless and nobodies can get separated from a person with ease. I'm guessing that's what happened. Now Roxas I want you to tell me from the beginning what happened." Roxas then said as the group closed in to listen to him by the fire, "I remember…"

'The black hooded man said chasing Roxas in the World that Never Was, "Come back here Roxas. We need you for an important assignment." Roxas turned around and yelled, "Get bent. I'd rather choke on toilet seat than work for you." The black hooded man took out a cross bow and arrow and said, "You really shouldn't have done this boy. Now you will suffer the consequences." Roxas saw that the entire place turned into the old meeting place for the Organization and then he got blasted in his foot and near his rib cage by a few of the hooded men themselves. Roxas then asked, "What do you want from me?" The black hooded man then replied saying, "It's quite simple really. We need you to search after the MVC and to destroy them." Roxas then said, "Why do you want them dead though? What does that got to do with me?" The black hooded man then said, "They're the squadron's worst enemy and besides a boy by the name of Victor visited you from what I can recall. He also fought with you if I'm correct. We want all three of those boys gone so we can take over this puny universe. Yet to do that we need actual souls since we paid a dire price for our work. Why I am even telling you this I'll never know. Seize him at once! Now hand over the Destiny Crest at once!" "I don't know what you're talking about.", Roxas replied. Then the black hooded man prepared his men for attack as he then stated, "If you won't give it to me, then I'll take it from you by force."'

Miroku then said after an awkward silence, "That's some story you have there Roxas. I guess we can rule out just our world being the only one attacked Inuyasha." Inuyasha then said, "It doesn't make any sense though. How did they all lose their souls then if they technically don't have any." Victor stood up and headed to the cave entrance. "Hear that you guys? The snow's stopped. I think I can even feel some heat coming from outside. Then sun must out." Then the others came and dug out more and more snow until they breached the outside air. Victor then saw the same black hooded man that nearly caught up with Roxas who said, "You got some nerve interfering boy. Now all of the MVC will perish at the hands of the Squadron!" Victor then took out his sword as did Inuyasha with his Tetsaiga and the others prepared for battle as Victor said, "If you want Roxas, you'll have to come and get him!!" Irony of the situation was that the clouds began to disappear and the sky was blue and clear like a cold glass of water, making it seem so peaceful, but yet a battle would occur in this very desolate spot.

(There is a lot of stuff yet to occur in this story and Roxas' part in the story will be expanded on as well in the coming chapters. There isn't a whole to be said other than the Squadron's experiments will be outlined as to why they have no souls. It has a lot to do with the beginning and Henry. More to come.)

(Next Time: Separation.)

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	22. Chapter 21

Separation

As the man in the black hooded suit dash towards Victor with extreme precision just as the boy clashed with his Sword of Light, Victor pressed up against the man's chest and kicked him high into the air. "Care to give me a lift?", Victor said turning to see his old friend with white dog ears along with Kagome, Roxas, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo. Inuyasha nodded as he then yelled and blasting the ground like a canon from a pirate ship, "Windscar!!" Victor backflipped as he jumped onto Inuyasha's attack as it sent him soaring into the air. The man in the black hooded suit teleported and kicked Victor's Sword of Light out of his hands and they began to punch each other hard and smack in the face with each blow. Victor socked the man in the black hooded suit so hard that as they both landed, he smashed into the ground creating a crater. Even as Victor landed and smiled to Inuyasha and co. they saw that same black hooded man climb out of his hole and dash towards Kagome. Inuyasha jumped right in front of the girl as he landed his Tetsaiga right through his body. Yet the man laughed a little as this happened and Roxas, Shippo, Sango and Miroku frowned in disgust as the man said, "Fools. You don't know the power of the Squadron nor its abilities, do you? I have a built in regeneration device, capable of withstanding any damage and protecting me from any harm that may come my way. Pity though that you won't share that same shielding as will I."

The black hooded man then kicked Inuyasha away as he removed himself from the sword and then walked towards Kagome. Miroku ran forward and tried to whap the man with his staff, but the black hooded man elbowed him in the stomach and threw him far towards the cave entrance. Sango yelled out, "No!! Now you're going to pay for that…Hirakotsu!!" (seeing as she does say this a lot when launching her weapon) Yet the black hooded man backflipped right over it as he flung the weapon straight back towards Sango smashing her right into Miroku, both unconscious. Then an arrow pierced him right at his heart, where the device he mentioned that could protect him. He turned and asked, "What?!" Kagome had a single arrow pointing straight for his face as he backed up, Roxas slashed his back to which the black hooded man yelled in pain, "Gaaaaahhh!! You little ingrate!!" Then the black hooded man got really mad. Inuyasha ran forward to slice him to pieces, but the black hooded man took out a Swiss Dagger as it was dubbed in Europe and slashed his sword away and scraped the half-demon's chest down to the bone!! Kagome yelled, "Inuyasha!!" as she shot her second arrow right towards the black hooded man as he took the full damage to his forehead. Roxas somehow, even barely knowing these people, shed a tear in his right eye and ran forward through the thick snow and attempted to slice his head clean off. But instead, the man clashed with his Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblade, which he just summoned along with his Oathkeeper on the spot away into the air. They came close to landing on Kagome and Shippo, but missed barely by a few feet. Inuyasha, then yelled, "Iron reverse soul stealer!!" as he slashed the man's chest and instead got blown high into the sky by a barrage of snow the man kicked into his face. Victor then grabbed the man's device and broke it saying with confidence, "Try regenerating your energy now you little weasel!!"

Then the black hooded man pulled down his hood to reveal someone of great significance. It was none other than Naraku in all of his mighty glory. He then said with his classic laugh before any trickery, "How quaint? I am sent on a mission to capture a boy, but instead I find the same group of humans and that same boy that managed to kill me all those years ago!!" Inuyasha then lost his frown briefly as he said, "Naraku? So it is you…I should have known I'd be facing you!!" Inuyasha then cried out as he sensed his demonic aura, "Backlash Wa…" Yet Victor held up his right hand as he said, "Let's hear him out. Trust me Inuyasha, I could have killed this guy a long time ago. But if I did that, what would I learn? Now then tell us Naraku, what does the Squadron have planned for Roxas?" Naraku laughed sinisterly as he said, "I guess it couldn't hurt to say a few things since it'll be too late for you to do a thing about stopping them anyway. The only reason I have come for Roxas is because he is connected to a boy called Sora. I as well only have allegiance with the Lord because of my desired revenge on you all. The only thing that they even told me and other villains that came from many different worlds was that they began a set of experiments known as the "Iron Fist Projects". All eight of them were all together producing the same results. What were those experiments, I couldn't tell you, but all of which had the same common 'goal'." Inuyasha then said, "So spit it out already. What was that goal?"

"Why for immortality of course. They desired immortality to live on past the rest of the universe, while they remained youthful and vital. But as they performed their experiments, they noticed that every subject they performed on died mysteriously, but why? They soon found out that the souls were departed from their bodies and drifting out in all parts of the universe, looking for Ailiana, the world of angels and heaven. Even as they performed their experiments on themselves, to achieve their dreams, they soon found out that they miscalculated their progress and actually created a new being known as the 'Soulless'. Yet they could still move and walk because they had not lost their hearts and were able to keep living in their own right. It seemed all so doomed for them and then they began to create more and more of these creatures as they soon figured out they could take people's souls away as well and add it to their own bodies. But they figured out it wasn't even permanent and needed a more powerful spell to make it permanent. Then they heard of the boy, or the Oracle of Destiny. It was said that if his heart was removed from his body, it could create a brand new set of souls for them to use to bring themselves back into the living once again.", Naraku continued.

Victor then asked, "So why do they need to conquer the universe to accomplish this?" "It was a matter of principle. They heard of a prophecy that stated to get what they desired they needed the Oracle of Destiny, yet that was a tiny fraction of what they needed to accomplish this. They also needed to open the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility, but could only do that with the help of the Oracle Handmaidens in the Inner World as well the aid of the MVC's souls and seven other women: a youth with a sweet heart of purity, the princess of Ailiana, a princess of pink and royalty, an innocent, sweet girl from Earth, the maiden of a mouse warrior, a girl from the 'ocean of all worlds' and the maiden of a Saiyan. To assist them they figured out that the Destiny Crests would be much easier to use then their band of Soulless armies to claim souls and so created hooded men as a result of this new information, but also knew that to claim each of these girls hearts, they would need the Destiny Crests themselves in order to do so, that of which has yet to be done.", The dark half-demon proclaimed.

Inuyasha then said, "So that's why you're going to all this trouble. It figures a coward is always a coward. You guys don't even know how to fight fairly at all." Naraku then laughed as he disappeared, "Foolish Inuyasha, even now, the Squadron already has begun its capture of the Oracle Handmaidens and once they have your lovely Kagome, we will defeat the MVC once and for all!! Hahahahahaha!!" Inuyasha and Roxas jumped towards the demon, but he disappeared too quickly as Roxas said, "He got away. Nuts!!" Hours later, after they all recovered and Sango and Miroku came too, they discussed about what they were going to do next. "It would seem that they are after Kagome then, which means we are going to have to be on our guard if we're going to protect her.", Miroku added. "Hey hey, so what have I been doing Miroku?", Inuyasha responded with anger. Victor then thought aloud as he said, "Seven other girls…I know the first three quite well. They are my older brother's girlfriend Alex, Anastasia (from my other story KH: The Legend of the White Knight), and Princess Peach from the Mushroom Kingdom. There's also Kagome, Chi Chi is the only other girl of a Saiyan other than Bulma, Kairi and…now a mouse warrior's maiden…The only I could think of was from a long time ago, but…oh no!! Cornflower!!" The group perked up as Victor said this and Roxas asked, "Who's Cornflower?" Victor then said, "Never mind. We'd better get going. Lord knows if the world I'm going to next is still okay." Victor then opened a portal inside the cave and He headed inside quickly, along with everyone else as they left the Land of Snow behind them (the name is what Victor of course gave it).

(I'm sorry for the massive delay folks. I had a busy year and things were of course off to a bumpy start in September too for school. Anyways, what a chapter? I did spill some beans, but there's a lot yet to happen in this story so I can afford to do so. There is a lot of importance to Roxas as had been said in the previous chapter and I have made this story out to be 100 chapters on the dot. A long one? Yes. A lot of subplots? No. There's as has been said more to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Kairi's Wish.)


	23. Chapter 22

**Kairi's Wish**

(I would listen to Kairi's theme for this next scene of course since it is about her. Any of Kairi's themes 1-3 will do for this chapter.)

Meanwhile, Sora and the others in the meantime travelled from the dark caves and sewers of the 'Underneath' as it was called to a much friendlier place on the one hand. It was quiet, dark and peaceful. It resembled a huge green meadow with tall oak trees to their left and right. Torahne then said, "I remember this place. I remember when I was just learning how to use my keyblade years and years ago I came to this place to calm my senses when my duties were too much to bear in battle. I've been to this world. It's called Cherrywood." As Sora walked with his arms around the back of his neck, he turned and asked, "Why do you call it that?" "It's actually a little more complicated that it sounds Sora. There are no cherries grown here, but rather this place was named after something much more important. I was only a child when I heard this story. They (people from Sanshobi of course) say that a young guy like yourself proposed to a girl in this very serene spot…" he then grabbed Sora by his neck in a friendly fashion and pointed towards a really tall oak tree near the center of the meadow and continued, "…where on that very spot they laughed together, smiled together, and even kissed together as well. Legend has it that there was also a set of shooting stars that passed by on this world. If a group of lovers were under that tree at a particular point in time, it was said that their lives would be forever bound to each other. It's almost like the 'Paopu Fruit' of this world."

Sora and Kairi looked at each other with some childish, but warm loving smiles as they both giggled over this little tidbit of information, just as Mickey asked, "How do you know that story then if I may ask?" "My grand pappy actually told me that story. It's how my grandmother and the guy first met and got married in the first place." Then the group rested on the soft clean cut grass of the meadow in Cherrywood and lay down as they looked up at the night sky before them in awe and in wonder. Henry then asked with a slight sniffle, "Do you think Victor's okay you guys?" Then a slight pause happened. They remembered Victor's sacrifice to save his friends at the expense (or supposed expense by our knowledge). The group sniffled a little, but in the end Torahne began to count the stars as did Riku at random, and pretty soon Donald and Goofy did so too before falling fast asleep in the dark, yet lit area. Torahne then hugged Henry as he said, "Listen…I know we've all been through a lot right now Henry, but Victor entrusted me to take care of you. And no matter what it takes I'll make sure the Squadron doesn't even get one finger on you okay?" Henry nodded as he looked up into the night sky and thought, 'If you are alive Victor, please be careful, wherever you are.'

Then Riku nudged Sora as he asked, "Hey, Riku what was that f…" Sora saw Riku's left hand point to Kairi who was looking at the sky with a worried face and so he moved a little closer to her as he raised his shoulders and Riku just simply nudged his head to the left hinting in body language, 'well…talk to her man. Talk to her.' Then Sora said, "So…nice night sky huh?" Kairi kept staring at the sky as she replied, "Yeah…sure is." Sora thought to himself in mere desperation, 'Man, this is great. What a way to be a man Sora? You can't even cheer up a girl that you've been after for so long and…' "Sora?", the girl asked. "Yeah Kairi.", Sora asked in response. "Do you think we'll ever find our way back home again, you know after this adventure we're on is done and all?", Kairi asked. "I think so. We've always had our share of trouble, but thanks to a good team effort, Riku, Mickey, you, Donald Goofy and I have always found a way through danger." Kairi then asked, "What about Henry too. He put all his faith in Victor and his spirit was crushed when the poor guy left to protect us. He's been quiet ever since then." Sora turned and looked at Henry, who was already fast asleep along with Riku and Mickey as well. Torahne was the last one awake aside from Sora and Kairi.

Sora then said with a loving smile, "I'm sure things will work out." Kairi's eyes began to glow as she looked into Sora's deep baby blue eyes and asked, "Really? You really think so?" Sora pulled her into his warm embrace and said, "I know so." Kairi flushed quite a bit and as her face reddened, Torahne smiled as he pulled his arms under the back of his neck and slowly lulled himself to sleep. Then Sora saw a shooting star in the sky along with a series of comets and tapped Kairi as she turned around and said in awe, "Ohhh…it's beautiful!! Oh Sora, it's so breathtaking…" Sora smiled and as he held her he said, "Well go ahead. Make a wish." Then Kairi closed her eyes and as she thought to herself, Sora looked at her with a strong courage in his heart thinking, 'No matter what happens, I'll always protect you Kairi. You can count on it.' Then as she opened her eyes, Sora then asked, "So what did you wish for?" Kairi then lightly punched Sora's shoulder as she said, "You silly goof!! I can't just tell you otherwise it won't come true." Sora laughed a little in a friendly way and said, "Good point. Well good night Kairi." Kairi smiled as he said this and replied, "Good night Sora, sweet dreams." Then Sora laid her down gently as she fell asleep tuckered out and exhausted. Then even Sora began to feel a little tired and began his slow trek off to sleep, but just before such a thing could occur, he then thought, 'No matter what…no matter what.'

In an ironic twist, Victor briefly appeared in Cherrywood at the exact time that the entire gang fell asleep. He slowly crept up to them first starting near Sora as he quietly said, "You always did have great potential. Keep that fire burning." Next he looked at Kairi and said, "You always were the perfect girl for Sora. I hope for the best of both of you." He past Riku simply because Riku was a strong guy and could take care of himself so long as Kairi and Sora were with him. He looked at Mickey and said, "I'm sorry for taking Minnie a while back. I hope there are no hard feelings for that." Then came Torahne, just as he past Donald and Goofy sleeping head first into a pile of grass. He then said to his old friend, "Man…what I would give to just turn back time, maybe…start over. I could have stopped Darkness, maybe even destroyed him sooner. At least we had a good childhood together. No matter what, you'll always be my best friend." Torahne cracked a smile in his sleep almost as if he heard Victor's sweet voice. Then he hugged Henry and placed a gift in a blue birthday present bag as he said, "Happy Birthday buddy. Even if it is tomorrow still. Take care, you gotta be brave for Sora and the gang here. They're going to count on you for strength and whatnot." Victor opened a white portal to leave, but as he did, he thought he heard someone say, "Don't go…" He turned around, but it was just the gang sleeping as he said, "If I could only tell you…it'd be easy if I could…I'll come back…but only when the time is right…I'm sorry Henry." Then Victor left through the portal and as it closed, Henry sleeping on his left side next to Torahne shed a tear in his right eye, almost as if he were awake.

(A sad, yet a good portion I must say of this story. No fighting this time around since I wanted to take a break from all the fighting I have included thus far. Victor's future role in the story will be outlined in future chapters to come as will Mike's and Chris's roles as well since I will be coming into a subplot for each of them to be in. Also what could Kairi's wish have been, may you ask? Well you'll just have to stay tuned to find out for that one folks. That's it for this chapter, gilamonsterx out.)

(Next Time: The Spark before a Fire.)


	24. Chapter 23

**The Spark before a Fire**

(Note: the chapter is taking place before Victor saved Roxas as a little heads to see how he got out of the sewers after facing Darkness.)

It was a dark and cold night, just outside of Brickstone Castle. It was a huge black, creaky old castle that stretched high into the sky and had swarms of men in black hooded suits of all shapes and sizes. What's more, commanding the troops at Brickstone Castle was none other than Cell from the Dragonball Z series. As he stood in his wide, cobble stone chiseled throne room, let alone surrounded by 6 foot tall knight guards on either side of the red carpeting leading up to his brown throne chair, came in not one, nor two, but dozens of prisoners. The man stringing them along by their chains was also none other than the Shredder, the TMNT's arch enemy. The prisoners, although covered in dark black robes, as a testament sign of the Squadron's cruelty and might, bowed before Cell forcibly by the knight guards pointing their long spears and swords towards them as each of their hoods were unraveled. They were Danny Fenton, Buzz Lightyear (shocker I know!!), the Centipede from James and the Giant Peach (for those that have seen the movie), Kim Possible, Robin from the Teen Titans, Tidus, Aerith, Minnie Mouse unfortunately, Hunter Steele, Raphael of the TMNT, Piccolo, and even Luke Skywalker apparently. As they all bowed helpless and in captivity, Cell laughed as stepped down his throne and picked up the bowing head of Danny Fenton first as he said, "You pitiful little insect!! How did it feel to lose your world? I bet it hurts. The irony of it all that mere heroes such as yourselves could actually beat us…the Squadron is powerful and because of my loyalty, I have acquired extreme power!!" Cell continued to laugh as he threw Danny Fenton to the ground and stepped up his throne.

"You'll never win!!", said a voice. "Who dares to say such things?", Cell asked with impatience. "I did buster!!", Hunter Steele had said. Then the Shredder picked the boy up by his neck and asked holding his clawed arm to his face, "Should I do it?", he asked. Then Cell shook his head and smiled arrogantly as he said, "No, I have a better punishment in mind. Shot on sight, he is to be at dawn. This'll be a lesson to the lot of you." Buzz then said with a pit of rage in his belly, "You're a stinking coward there Cell. You got more power on your own to finish us all off, but you're all too chicken to do it. That's why you guys make up these lame excuses, just so you can be lazy and have some fun before we kick your keisters." Then Cell kneeled down to Buzz's level as Hunter Steele was forcibly taken to his dungeon prison and said, "I wouldn't be talking if I were you…take them away. I'll figure out a good punishment later." As they were taken away, Cell then asked as the Dark Prince from Prince of Persia's world arrived, "Can you do me a favour? Keep the guards up to snuff…I got a bad feeling about all this…it's too quiet." As the Dark Prince disappeared into a black portal he said, "Calm before a Storm is always a sign of alertness though. Just keep that in mind." Then he disappeared leaving Cell with his thoughts.

'Victor squared off against Darkness just as the rocks caved in on his side of the room where the Book of Secrets was and Darkness disappeared saying, "I was calling a bluff. We'll finish our final battle in a more…darker arena where I will have control." Victor then thought to himself hearing Henry's cries and the gang on the other side weeping, 'Poor kids. I didn't want to do this, but orders are orders. I got to end this once and for all.' So with that Victor opened up a white portal and disappeared into it as fast as you could say "pudding pop". (brief cameo of That 70s show when they made fun of Hyde.)'

As The Dark Prince reappeared before Hunter Steele's gates, Hunter frowned and said, "Go away you coward. You already took Corona away from me as well as Aqune. You've got nothing more you could take from me." Then the Dark Prince snapped his fingers and he revealed himself as Victor!! Much to Hunter's surprise, he gawked for a second and then smiled as he gasped and said, "You made it!! You came, you came, you came!!" Victor then said with a clever grin on his face, "Shhhhh… better to keep it down…" Victor kept saying raising and lowering his hands up and down and looking to his left and right rapidly, "We're busting outta hear alright, but we got to keep it quiet. Cell won't let you guys out without a fight." After unlocking Hunter's chains with the keys he snatched off of a few guards, he then said giving the red headed boy a key, "Go to every door you can and get everyone out quickly." "But what about you?", Hunter asked in confusion. "I got things under control here. My older brother rounded up a few old friends to come and help us. If anything they should be here right about…", Victor said looking at his watch. Then just a centimeter away from Victor the walls of Brickstone Castle were smashed and he said, "…now." It was Christopher along with Donkey Kong, Luigi, Yoshi and Link storming through with guards sounding the alarm. Hunter then twitched his left as he said, "Wha.."

Then Victor raised his Hunter's gawking chin up as he said, "Go now alright. This is not a drill. Chris, do you think you can handle the guards here by yourself?" "Am I not a member of the MVC?", he asked in return. Victor shook his head and laughed a bit as he said, "Fair enough. See ya." Then Victor snapped his fingers and disappeared in a blinding flash of light (as had been done in the Legend of the White Knight), just as Hunter ran off with the key to unlock the other prisoners, leaving Chris and his Nintendo army to battle swarm after swarm of knights in armour like that of the Medieval times. Meanwhile, Mike came in on a night elf Chimaera along with Malfurion and Tyrande Whisperwind on a couple of others themselves as he said, "Remember now…our mission is to get their Destiny Crest and save the prisoners okay?" "Right now young one. We may be old, but we're not deaf.", Malfurion said in confidence. Mike smiled as he then said, "It's been a while and I appreciate your support along with the Night Elves and the Alliance." "Think nothing of it my young friend. You and your brothers saved our land years ago and it's the least we could do in this grave immediate dangerous time. You'd best be going, your brothers will need you.", Malfurion said. "Are you guys going to be okay Malfurion?", Mike asked. "Our people have faced far worse than the likes of men in hooded suits young warrior. Today is just another short victory for our races.", Tyrande Whisperwind replied for Malfurion. Then Mike nodded as they separated and he flew off high into the dark cloudy and suddenly raining night sky.

Meanwhile, Victor had found cell high in sky just standing in mid air and he raised himself up to his level and he then said, "My my Cell. Will wonders never cease? You've come this far for what? Mere revenge? A good time ridding your enemies from the face of existence? You are one clever being I will admit, but the Squadron will fall. I can guarantee it." Cell then laughed while covering his mouth with his right hand and said lowering it and pointing towards with his left hand at Victor, "You fool. The MVC's creation was by chance. A mere misconstrued event that should have never happened, occurred because we were sloppy villains. Need I remind you, it was your brother and Gohan together that defeated me, not you!" Then Victor smacked Cell hard as the tyrant grabbed the fist Victor made with his hand, feeling the power that came from it. Victor then said, "True, but I got more tricks than a magician at a kid's birthday party. Just try to keep up." Cell and Victor engaged in hand to hand combat as they each tried punching each other quickly, but the other fighter just quickly dodging it old school style like the Z fighters did back on Earth from their realm. Victor punched Cell hard in his chest, and then Cell kneed Victor near his groin and smacked him hard into Brickstone Castle smashing the left side of its walls to bits. Then after the smoke cleared, Victor charged back to Cell and punched him even higher into the air and used his mind to create a series of lava heading up towards him in a cyclone of fire and molten rock.

Cell then dodged all of these attacks and smacked Victor straight in his face and kneed him in his stomach sending him down towards the castle grounds, which held ferns, yellow stone flooring oddly enough, and a long four sided brick balcony the guards would use to spot danger. Then Victor felt a strange glowing sensation appear before him and he soon found himself in a strange dark watery abyss. Before him, was the love of his life Anastasia. He took a good long look at her, in her white robes (since she is an angel literally (for more info. just read the Legend of the White Knight to find out about this mysterious girl)), her glowing white hair, which normally was red, and her blue eyes glowed a light blue to counterbalance the dark watery place Victor found himself in. "Anastasia? What are you doing here?", the boy asked. The girl giggled slightly as she said, "You look the same way you did when I first met you. You're still as handsome as always. Grab my hand Victor, don't be shy." Victor then took hold of her hands and glowed brightly as he escaped the abyss and charged towards Cell. The tyrant then asked, "This power…it can't be…it couldn't be…" Then Victor took out his transparent, glowing Sword of Light and slashed Cell just as he became destroyed and withered away down to every last cell of his body.

"Yet it is Cell, Yet it is." Then Mike arrived with his Chimaera landing on Brickstone Castle's grounds saying as Victor landed too and Chris arrived with Danny Fenton, Buzz Lightyear and the others, "I made it in good time then. The defenses are weak and Cell's been destroyed. This day is ours friends…" Mike said taking out the legendary Sword of Darkness. It was a lot like Victor's Sword of Light, but twice as big, and instead of being a simple straight European like sword, it had points on each end of weapon, symbolizing its power and strength (I got this idea of course from the thorn spell Maleficent cast on the castle in Sleeping Beauty of course). The entire group gasped as they saw this, except for Victor and Chris who in turn took out their swords: Victor's Sword of Light, as mentioned being a glowing white European transparent sword and Chris's Sword of Balance, a brown yet hard as steel and agile as a kite, Samurai sword like weapon they clashed their swords together as a sign of unity. Mike continued, "…The Squadron has taken world after world by storm. They have sought to destroy us, and your people as well. It doesn't matter who it is, or what it is, they just want one thing: pure dominance through these." Mike raised up a green Destiny Crest, he took off of Shredder as he had been tied up and left in the throne room of the castle. He held it high with his right hand as his left hand held the Sword of Darkness up with Victor's Sword of Light and Chris' Sword of Balance saying, "Because of their experiments they desired for immortality, they have no souls and are living dead wanting to eradicate life just to claim their own back. I for one am not about to let my home get invaded by these monsters for a fact, how about you?" Buzz Lightyear, Hunter Steele and everyone else yelled loudly, "NO!!" and then Mike continued, "Now then the plan should work carefully as such. Victor will search the universe for any survivors of other worlds lost to the Squadron and round them up. Chris will scour the universe for more of these Destiny Crests since we already have three and I'll keep their major members of the Squadron occupied while all this happens."

Then Kim Possible asked after a short ten second silence, "So what are we supposed to do then?" "You guys are supposed to be liberators. Free more worlds like this one from the Squadron's wrath and gather up as many people as you can. The Squadron is no mere army anymore. It is an ideal, a faith. To kill a faith you must gather support for your side to combat it. Eventually we will find this 'Lord' of theirs. I guarantee it." Then after all was said and done, Victor summoned a portal for himself and left (off to rescue Roxas) while Chris took a brown portal off to Jungle Japes to search for more of DKs friends as his Nintendo army followed him. The rest of the gang went inside the Gummi Ship being piloted by Chip and Dale as they arrived and picked them up and flew away into the cold dark sky. Mike turned around and noticed of course it was the 'Lord' himself covered by his dark robes standing on the brick balcony as he said, "Such a valiant speech. I can understand why you were the chosen hero of heroes and became the most powerful hero of them all. Such a pity you have to let your brothers hold you back from true power." Mike then said pointing his sword at him, "You're one to talk. I'd like to see you come down and say that looking me in the eye!!" Then the Lord laughed as Mike jumped towards him and they both disappeared inside a dark black portal as Mike engaged his sight into the Lord's cold red eyes.

(An interesting end to this chapter I must say. As for Mike engaging with the 'Lord' himself this early is a reference to Terra of BBS since the guy reminds me a lot of my older brother (literally). The Squadron as has been noted is going after every being there is and all which is why Mike said what he said. Also his speech on the Squadron being more of an ideal than an army I got from Tony Blair's speech of the 'War on Terror' as popular media has dubbed the situations in the Middle East and how that mere brute strength isn't enough to end this situation. Now steering away from the politics, there is a lot more to come with this story so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Black Flame.)

(Review.)


	25. Chapter 24

**The Black Flame**

(This next Chapter is based off of the t.v. series for this book series. So without further or due, I hope you enjoy this next installment of KH: The Eternal Beyond.)

Hours had passed. Sora and the others, Riku, Kairi, Torahne, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Henry, travelled into a portal Torahne created and from there travelled to an unknown world that they had never seen before. As they arrived, they noticed they were surrounded in a thicket of woods and they decided to keep trudging through figuring there would be a way out of the woods and back on track to their quest. Yet as they kept going, Kairi and Henry got caught in a thicket of branches of an evergreen tree and Henry said as Donald and Goofy pried him from the tree, "Man these trees sure can poke you good. I got a nasty cut on my wrist just from one of those branches." Riku took a look at the ripping flesh cut along his right wrist and said, "I got just the thing." Riku took out some bandages and wrapped a couple on his hand to keep the cut clean and protected from infection just as they neared the clearing into a calm valley. Henry then holding his hands together in a kind gentle way said, "Thanks Riku. My cut feels all better." Riku smiled as the boy said this and replied kneeling, "Think nothing of it. You and Sora here aren't that different." Sora then asked, "Now what's that supposed to mean?" Kairi then smiled as he asked this and said, "Oh Sora. He just means that you and Henry are really nice and kind is all." Mickey then said, "shh…Torahne sees something."

Torahne took a look down into the valley where there was a giant red brick castle. It was designed in a European fashion, there was a Mess Hall at the castle's center and along the edges of it were roses red and plum like the sunsets of Destiny Island. Torahne noticed a bonfire inside and said noticing a rat at the center with his other crew along with a few tied up rabbits, shrews, hedgehogs, and all other sort of woodland creatures. The rat at the center had one mouse in particular that was tied up. He was tall, wore a red and green cloak covering the top half of his body, his eyes brown and deep filled with hatred for the rat and his teeth were gritting as this rat sneered in a triumphant way. This rat being rather a tiny bit shorter than Matthias, had dark brown eyes like that of hell itself, a hook on the end of his tail, a patch over his right eye and a scar over that eye covered with a black patch. He wore a dark purple cape over his purple cloth covering his chest with a skull of a small creature holding the cape to his shirt and showing off his stamina. The group kept going down the valley towards the castle slowly, but noticed rat guards holding their posts and walked back and forth left to right keeping watch. They slowly crept over the walls of the castle only to be caught sneaking inside. The rat along with a few other rats of his own, some heartless and nobodies to boot tied them up and he then said, "Well, well, well. What do you suppose we have here Cheesethief?" "I reckon some trespassers. They're like that one boy we saw all those years ago, you know the one that…", Cheesethief said, but was interrupted by Cluny's tail gripping his neck as he Cluny said, "I realize that. Now then enough of that…" then his tail threw him to the ground with scars around Cheesethief's neck.

Kairi hid behind Sora as she said, "Oh no!!!" As she did, Cluny stared at the dame in utter delight as he gripped Kairi's neck with his tail and he said, "Such a fine maiden. The witch told us of you and your powers. However these are in pale comparison to that of the seven Princesses of Life." Sora bit Cluny's tail and yelled out, "Leave her alone you creep!!" and as Cluny yelped backward, a few of the other rats gripped Sora's head as Cluny knelt down to eye level with Sora and sneered in his face. "You incorrigible little child!! You will be the first to die. I have already made plans to that mouse warrior there. The legendary Matthias couldn't even protect his precious Cornflower!!", he said. "You coward!! Mark my words Cluny, I will get her back from you.", Matthias yelled out in anger all tied up. Cluny then yelled to the top of his lungs, "Execute them all. I have no need for these fools any longer!!" (I would listen to the Encounter from KH since it does glamorize this part quite well) Yet before he could, a portal opened and a youthful chest brown haired kid walked through in a black shirt and a nice blue 7's jeans with his Sword of Light in hand, along with Roxas who rejoined into Sora once more, along with Inuyasha and his friends. Sora and the others smiled as Henry did so too and Henry yelled out, "Victor!! You're okay!!" Cluny then yelled out, "What?!? Seize them!!" Pretty soon the whole lot of the rats charged towards them and a battle ensued.

Victor then engaged himself into untying Matthias, and as he did, Matthias grabbed his sword quickly and clashed with Cluny before he could lay a claw on Victor. Cluny then began fighting both Victor and Cluny at the same time as he held them off move for move. "You scurvy little imbeciles. Even while you fight me now, with this new power I have been granted, you are falling for the Squadron's plans as well as Maleficent's." Victor then said, "Maleficent? What does she have to do with this?" "She's been giving them a clue as to the whereabouts to all Seven of Princesses of Life. Even now they have four of the seven princesses." Inuyasha untied Riku and they began taking on three to ten rats at a time, while Miroku untied Sora and Henry and fought many other rats with Sango and Kagome. Victor and Matthias held off Cluny as he made a move from his left with his tail, then a right with his pirate like sword and Cluny clashed with Victor's Sword of Light as he said, "After all these years, I have a chance at vengeance on both you the mouse warrior Matthias and that same boy who defeated me with you all those years ago." Cluny then used the power of darkness itself to create a sword of darkness of his own to clash with Victor and pushed Matthias aside. Yet the mouse warrior never gave up and both Victor and Matthias teamed up together to finally destroy Cluny in a single slash as he said falling to his death, "Defeated again…by a bunch of children and mice!!" Then as the war ended, all sorts of animals from far and wide cheered as they celebrated, with Sora, Henry, Donald, Goofy and Kairi racing towards Victor and collapsing while hugging him and whatnot.

Henry most of all smothered Victor in hugs as he said, "I thought I'd never see you again Victor!! We were all so worried." Victor then rubbed Henry's green hair with a nice smile as he said, "You can't get rid of me that easily my boy. I got too much to tell you all. Let alone about the seven Princesses of Life." Time passed as Sora and the others listened to Victor's story about Naraku, the fact Roxas was temporarily separated from Sora once more, to which Victor explained that his somebody was nearby and like metal to a magnet was automatically drawn back to Sora with ease. Then Matthias and his friends, Constance, Basil Staghare and many others explained that Cluny and his rats were resurrected and attacked Redwall Abbey, as they did nine years ago. Victor then said, "That was shortly after my brothers and I left for Calgary too that I became a better person and first started travelling to other worlds like you did, but give or take at least five or six years before you." Matthias nodded as he said, "It was thanks to Victor during that time and today that Redwall is saved. I thank you old friend, but I wish Cornflower was alright though." Victor held his old friend's right shoulder as he said, "We'll get her back. I promise." Even as he said this, Torahne then asked Victor, "So what happened then Victor? You just disappeared under that rubble and we never saw you again. Except that blue box present you gave Henry." Henry pulled it out and showed the yellow scarf inside it and wrapped it around his neck as Victor said, "It's very complicated Torahne. It all has to with the duties I have as a member of the MVC and even long before that." Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi and the others waited as they stared at Victor in anticipation of hearing all of this and he added, "You guys wouldn't want to hear it though right?" They nodded saying they did want to and then Victor replied before starting, "I shall begin then. But just be warned though, a lot of the events in this story are somewhat sad at the beginning and the middle of the story, but get better as it progresses towards the end." So then Victor told his brother's story (the Perfect Trio essentially).

By the time he ended it over three and a half hours later, the entire group of Constance, Matthias, Inuyasha and his friends, or even Sora and the regular group were all crying, smiling and whatnot as Victor concluded, "…up to the point to when I found Destiny Island and saw Kairi standing there all alone, thus when I met you and Riku face to face." Sora then said, "I had no idea." Mickey fell silent as did Kagome for a temporary bit of time and then she gave Victor a brief hug, Inuyasha not minding since Victor and him went way back in his story to facing off against the Band of Seven!!! Victor then said, "I did tell you guys. That's why my brothers and I have to do what we have to do. We are all connected in this little chain of events. It started out as the Squadron trying to resurrect the Burning Legion, but now they want to resurrect their souls. Essentially to save time, they did similar things to Xehanort…er Torahne here when he was Xehanort except with the souls of beings creating the 'Ghastlies'. Eight of them were there and we just took out one of those guys. The silver hooded man was Oliea before he changed his name, like Organization XIII. They of course have conflicts with my brothers and I because in order to complete their deeds, they need our souls as well as the souls of the Princesses of Life, the destiny crests and our good man Henry here." Riku then said, "Seems like a pretty big list." "Acquiring a soul is harder than getting your heart back that's for sure." Then as the group headed out to leave Matthias then asked Victor, "Is there anything we can do to help? I'd love to repay you for your gratitude." Victor thought and said, "Search many lands and many worlds for survivors. We'll need all the help we can get at this point. These guys want a war and we'll give it to them. No doubt we will." Then Victor summoned his portal and the entire group, with Inuyasha and co. went along with them.

(What a chapter. As you can see I referenced this to my story the Perfect Trio since it has a lot to do with why the MVC is the way it is. It is kind of paralleling Sora's life with his friends and that of the world's history as I have compared my family's lives. It also is key to why this story is as big as it is. More to come yet.)

(Next Time: Victor vs. Darkness.)

(If you can at all, please review.)


	26. Chapter 25

**Victor vs. Darkness**

(The song I would suggest listening to Destiny's Force since this is pretty much Darkness' theme all around.)

As Sora and co., Inuyasha and co., Henry, Torahne and Victor appeared from the portal Victor summoned them through and arrived in a very familiar place. They arrived in Victor's as well as Mike's and Chris' world: Earth. Victor and company were also in a very special place as well. It was in a city that stretched from here and there across a large plain known as the 'Prairies'. This city had a large red capped tower in the midst of tall black, brown and grey buildings with a mix of calm suburbs, parks, and a lovely sight of the Rocky Mountains and the entire countryside along a set of hills and rocks. They were in Calgary, a city in Canada known quite well for its Western Roots and its beautiful landscape. Yet it was under attack, not by armies, but by Darkness himself. He captured Inuyasha and his friends as well as Sora and his friends, Torahne and Henry as Darkness said, "So we meet again Victor. I hope you're ready for me now boy. I've been waiting for a suitable arena for years and what better place to conquer your mind than your world of Earth." They all were then transported into the Awakening like they were before, but on a purple platform with Kagome's image on it, with her mother, Inuyasha, Shippo, Sango, Kirara, Koga the wolf demon, Kikyo and Naraku on it as well. Inuyasha and co., Sora and co. and the others were gone and it was just Victor and Darkness now. "What did you do to my friends Darkness? Did you capture their hearts like you were trying to do to Calgary?", Victor asked while drawing out his Sword of Light.

Darkness, being the essence and physical shape of Victor, laughed and replied, "Earth will not be safe for long once I get a hold on you and when your brothers fall one by one Victor. Your friends are tucked away in the abyss unconscious. If you ever want to see them again, I suggest you fight me. It will be a one on one fight. If you beat me, you can all go freely. But should I win, this world will fall and so shall your friends." Victor nodded and soon enough Darkness launched himself towards Victor with extreme speed. Victor grabbed Darkness' legs as he covered the entire area in a black flame and Darkness drew out a black Sword in an exact shape and form of Victor's except his sword was made out of pure darkness and sin, designed to absorb anger to make it more powerful as well as any spite that Victor had in his heart as well. Victor and Darkness clashed, slash by slash Victor had him. He backflipped Darkness off the ledge of the pillar and Darkness came spouting back up in a giant black twister floating in the air smiling with an evil grin. Victor then sensed the presence of Maleficent as well as Victor said, "You little cheat. You can't have two on one in a one on one fight." Darkness laughed as he said while backshuffling Victor's sword attacks right, left, right, and left, "I am a single person. Maleficent was a hard and difficult one to take care of once again simply because she got smarter against my powers. Yet I still proved to be her better, and I shall do the same to you, Victor."

Victor squared off against Darkness and imagined himself in his white armour. He soon transformed into a knight in white armour and Darkness then transformed into a black knight in the exact same likeness of Victor and Victor slashed at Darkness twice before having to go on defense when Darkness slashed at Victor five to seven times with his sword. Victor smacked Darkness and sent him flying towards his own flame, but Darkness was too powerful to be deterred. Darkness gathered up energy into his sword and clashed against Victor's Sword of Light creating sparks of black and white light to coincide in harmony. Then Victor and Darkness slashed at each other's swords quickly and viciously while the other angrily looked up the other with jealousy (Darkness) or slight hatred (Victor) as they were surprisingly matched evenly in this sparing match. Darkness' sword was so powerful it rippled the ground everywhere revealing Inuyasha and co., Sora and co., as well as Torahne and Henry in the sky covered in a black ooze out cold. Victor yelled, "Oh no!! You monster!!" Darkness laughed as Victor slashed at his sword and cut it to pieces. Darkness then said, "You should know me better by now Victor. I can absorb any blow you throw at me." Darkness took in the remains of his sword and transformed into a black dragon like that of Maleficent's dragon form, but he was completely black, equipped with two large horns near the back of his head and a horn on his nose. Victor slashed at Darkness (dragon form) while avoiding his black fire that he breathed out, and jumped on his back. Victor gripped Darkness' neck and chanted in his head the lyrics to 'Scarborough Fair'.

(A song I really think fits in here would be 'Alex on the spot' from Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa, but any other song I suppose would fit here in this next part too.)

Darkness asked as his powers began to weaken and his heart grew heavy, "What is this music you are humming?" Victor closed his eyes and said, "It is a song of pure heart and soul my evil half. You are growing weak because of its effects. Now I should be able to destroy your dragon form with ease." Victor slashed at Darkness' legs, but was smacked away towards the edge of the platform that had the black flame covering the edges still and then felt a sudden jolt in his left arm. 'He must have struck me down hard; I actually felt a snap there. Man that smarts.' Darkness laughed again as he said smacking the ground again with triumph in his eyes, 'What's the matter Victor, you ready to surrender or shall we persist again in this old conflict?' Victor slashed at Darkness' heart and destroyed Maleficent inside of him, sending her to the Realm of Darkness once more, but this time was trapped for good there. Darkness felt the blow to his heart, a single heart completely made of darkness since that was his essence. Victor then did something he never thought he'd do in a million years since he was a kid: he hugged Darkness directly. As Victor did such sparks flew all around Victor and across the area of the Awakening and through both Darkness' and Victor's hearts. Darkness got absorbed into Victor's heart and soon enough Darkness was back where he belonged, but he said through Victor attempting to take control of his mind, "Fool! Now after all of these years I have returned to your mind. What makes you think I won't attempt at taking control of you and your thoughts? I can sense it. You miss this city. In every breath you take, you have missed this city of Calgary for so long, almost like it was a brother to you. Anything you do and anyone you meet, it all pales in comparison to your home, this city itself. Yet I wonder, is it more important to you or are your friends and family more important?"

Victor then said, "You ought to be careful what you wish for friend. I still have control over my darkness. Essentially you are powerless against me and can't defeat me. I'll tell you why you can't. I have friends. I have family. I have courage. I've met and fought many people, beings, demons, and other sort of dangers other than you Darkness. Yet I have persevered nevertheless. Now say good night!!" Darkness yelled no through Victor's body and essentially above all else, was destroyed through Victor's imagination ironically the very thing he desired after all these years. Victor still had evil in his body, but like other human beings it was normal and good. Darkness still existed in Victor, but would become an ally.

Darkness then said, "What is this feeling I am having? It's of completion, significance, purpose. I have never felt it's like since the before times when you were a mere child." Victor nodded and said as the Awakening disappeared and they were all back in Calgary, "It's because you are part of me Darkness. You are my Yang and I am your Yin. We can do great stuff as is together. I can't say we could have ever beaten Mike at all. He would've been too smart and powerful to be weak against us. Besides maybe you can help me find the Destiny Crests anyhow? What do you say?" Darkness through all his rough nature agreed and said, "Very well. I can assist you in that quest boy, but only when and if there is a threat I shall be in combat that is worthy of me." Victor laughed and said, "Sure. You know, for a being of pure evil, you sure have a good side about you." "That's only because I am inside your heart, where there is good boy. Now go, your friends should be waking up now." As the others awoke Inuyasha felt a bump on his head as he asked, "What hit me? It feels like a truck rammed me into a drugstore." Victor laughed a little as he got the others to come to and soon enough after all that happened, some of them were astonished and others were happy for Victor and his success in his long decade fight against Darkness coming to an end. Sora for one thought while looking at Victor, 'You deserve a lot my friend. You came through for us with a good heart and for that I am glad I know you.' Victor then said as he looked to the sky, "Darkness is right about one thing. I have loved this city since I was only eight. It has a certain charm to it that I could never find anywhere else. It was once my home and it makes me feel a little sad knowing I don't live here anymore." Sora and others felt a little pain for Victor and his time of remembrance and without warning, Henry hugged Victor. Victor felt this and saw the little guy only four feet tall with green hair tug at his back as Victor embraced it. Soon enough everyone else, excluding Torahne, Riku and Inuyasha hugged Victor to cheer him up. Victor laughed slightly and maturely and said, "I guess I can't go wrong with friends like you guys. I can always come back to Calgary anytime, but my family and friends I only have so much time to see and talk to." With that they all sat down and listened to Victor's tale about his recent fight with Darkness while they were out cold.

Riku then said, "Well it's a good thing Darkness is only in your own body now instead of out in the open." Victor then said, "I guess so Riku. Darkness will make for a powerful ally that's for sure. He'll still exist, but I think we'll make for being good friends eventually. Now then, we should get moving." Then before they could do anything they saw Chris (Christopher for his proper name) appear and run towards them far off in the distance across pavement and streets towards them near the Calgary Tower. Victor then asked Chris, "So what's going on Chris? You're all out of breath." Chris then said, "Mike's fighting 'the Lord'. I just finished off another of their allies as well while Mike went off to fight him." Chris explained that while Mike was off fighting 'the Lord', he faced off against an old foe that he and Victor fought together as kids: Master Hand from Super Smash Bros.

He defeated him, but Chris had only so much time to explain that the Squadron had taken a Destiny Crest that he acquired shortly before facing Master Hand. Victor then said, "That's terrible. We gotta find Mike then. Where is he now?" "He's already back in Radiant Garden facing 'the Lord'. If we don't do something, they'll find all of the Destiny Crests and we'll be in big trouble soon as well." Chris then travelled through a brown portal (since he wields the Sword of Balance) and Victor and company travelled through a white portal off to Radiant Garden as did Chris in kind. What they didn't know at the time was that this quest of theirs was just beginning however and would have a long time to find the Destiny Crests and to protect the universe.

(A fitting end to Darkness and beginning to his friendship with Victor again I should say. Since Darkness was of pure evil, I felt that something like what Victor did was perfect for his capture since Darkness is of sin and can't any good thoughts, actions or anything belonging to 'light'. Also to add on, I along with my family lived in Calgary for a good five years, but even though it was only five years, it did feel like an eternity of all sorts of joys and riches that you could never find in a video game, i-pod, or even with a solid gold hummer. I felt that this was appropriate in this chapter since I do owe a lot of my life lessons and experience as a better person to the people of this big city in Alberta, Canada. The next chapter I shall do will involve Chris' and Mike's fights with Master Hand and 'the Lord'. More to come (although I am not sure when this next chapter after this one will be submitted), so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Chris vs. Master Hand.)


	27. Chapter 26

**Chris vs. Master Hand**

Chris ended up back on Earth, shortly after finding survivors of three specific worlds (one of which managed to defend itself for long enough for Chris to rescue them and save their world from destruction (the Mushroom Kingdom)): the Orcs from Durotar back on Azeroth, Yamcha and Vegeta from 'Earth' in a different alternate universe known as the 'Dragonball Universe' as well as Luigi and the others from the Mushroom Kingdom. They managed to arrive in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the same place Victor and co. would eventually arrive in shortly just near the center of town and only a few minutes away from the legendary Calgary Tower, a red towering place where there was business meetings held and a gourmet restaurant on the top floor of the building. After facing off against another member of the Squadron, who wore a green cloak and was named Evergreen, the man managed to snatch a red Destiny Crest and disappeared as he then told Chris after defeating him with ease, "Toodle-loo you ignorant child." After a brief momentary sorrow on the loss, they set out on their goal. Chris then said to everyone, "Alright. Everybody spread out. There's a Destiny Crest on this planet. Mike's scanner has its whereabouts somewhere in this city. I'm going to patrol the area for other people in hiding and I need someone to keep the lookout ready while I'm gone." While everyone else twiddled their thumbs in anticipation for an answer, Vegeta then held out his left hand in a 'Stop' form and said, "You ought to go and make sure that we are not followed. I'll take over while you're gone." Chris nodded and ran off into town. He looked and searched everywhere like everyone else for a Destiny Crest. What he found high in the sky was a metal silvery platform that hovered just a few miles above the city of Calgary with a familiar enemy that he faced almost a decade ago: Master Hand. Chris then transformed into the same similar brown armoured suit that Mickey wore back when Victor was the main of the KH universe, but this time it was the real deal. He even wielded the Sword of Balance from the Axis of Eternity (to find out what that is you'd have to read the Legend Begins to figure that one out).

He then jumped from building to building and ran up the top of the Calgary Tower in kind and jumped as far as he could and just managed to get to the platform being as agile and light as he was. Then after getting himself to his feet, he found Krillin and Gohan (adult Gohan that is) all tied up and strapped with tape on their mouths and as they looked at their 'soon-to-be' rescuer, Master Hand also caught a glimpse of the child as he said with a booming voice like that of the announcer of Super Smash Bros., "Ah, I've been expecting you Christopher. Tell me, do you know what this is?" The giant white glove pulled out a blue ring from the inside of his hollow body and Chris replied, "It's a Destiny Crest: the Squadron seeks its great powers through which they can use the Hand Maidens of the Inner World, the Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness along with my brothers and I, the Princesses of Life and Henry, a kid like myself from Sanshobi to complete this." Master Hand then replied after this long awkwardness, "Yes. I on the other hand am in this for revenge on you and Mario. I wonder now. Where could he be? Especially when the universe is in such great peril, I'd think he of all people would be here to help you out."

Chris punched Master Hand, shot a fireball from his mouth at Master Hand (a move Super Mario is notorious for) and flung his sword straight in his face saying, "You were warned. Now give me the Destiny Crest or I'll make you regret your choice." Master Hand smacked the ground hard and turned into a silver glove with shiny coating as a defensive shield for his body. "I hope you don't mind, but I have taken the liberty of preparing for this fight." Master Hand took a whap at Chris with his classic 'Fast Slap' as some dubbed it. Chris rebounded with a quick slash at his coating from his left, then his right, then he did five twirls in the air and flung the Sword of Balance towards him, scraping his glove body and coming back into Chris's left hand like a boomerang getting flung and returning back to its owner.

Master Hand turned his fingers into a gun like he always did in the Super Smash Bros. games and fired many shots right at Chris. Luckily, Chris had long since mastered the Sword of Balance like Mike and Victor and simply deflected the shots fired by the twirling his sword in a circle five times causing sparks to fly everywhere. Chris then scraped the ground hard and jumped high into the air and slashed through Master Hand. Before being totally obliterated, Chris grabbed the Destiny Crest and Master Hand was completely destroyed. But of course Chris heard laughter still and saw that Master Hand was completely red (literally). He apparently could take on new forms and colours as well. "The Squadron was kind enough to give me new abilities and powers such as that of elements. Whatever element I choose, I can become with ease at a simple price: I sacrificed my freedom to gain these new powers. With them I shall destroy you Chris." Then Master Hand flicked his fingers and Chris's armour was on fire, then a change of colour and Master hand became white. He flicked his fingers once again and turned Chris into a block of ice (literally once again). Then he turned into a yellow colour and shocked Chris inside melting the ice apparently and thus making it even more painful for Chris as well.

Master Hand changed back into his regular form and replied saying, "the MVC is a joke of an alliance. You were always behind your brother's shadow. That's why you were always jealous of him wasn't it?" Chris punched Master Hand to which he flicked him away. Chris said, "You don't know that…" "I don't have to. Word of heroes like yourself travels quickly, and guess what: we've known about you three since you were all infants and mere children. At first we thought it was luck that you all even became who you are in only five years, but then realized that it was more than fate. It was your pathetic working determination that did it. Now we shall exterminate that determination and every hero along with it as well." Then out of nowhere a mustached man in a red shirt, blue overalls and a red cap appeared shooting fireballs at the glove and said, "Leave the boy alone." Chris smiled and said, "If it isn't the man in the flesh himself: Mario. Where were you all this time?" Mario looked behind him and said to Chris, "I've been busy these past few months along with everyone else. What about you?" Chris nodded and said, "Same old same old." Then Master Hand said, "Your powers are insignificant. I am all powerful. I have more than enough buzz to defeat you two." Chris and Mario nodded and together ran in to defeat Master Hand. Chris slashed at him five times; Mario blasted him with a giant fireball (like what was seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) and then together coincided with Chris combined their attacks together, Chris' punching and Mario's fireballs to finally destroy Master Hand once and for all.

Afterwards Mario began a long tale of epic proportions that took for a long four and a half hours (by this time Victor is already fighting Darkness and has already won). When Chris first arrived on the Mushroom Kingdom Planet, let alone received a very special power: his legendary gloves as a child, it was presumed that Mario died a long time ago. Chris finally learned of this false reality. "I travelled a long time trying to find my purpose and better myself as a fighter. This was five years after I beat Bowser with help from your parents. I know they are your parents because you look a lot like your mother and father.", Mario responded. Chris then asked as they looked at the sun set for afternoon in Calgary, "Tell me. What were my parents like Mario?" "They were the best friends I could ever ask for. If it weren't for them I would have never rescued Princess Peach from Bowser all those years ago. They were brave, loyal, smart, and kind as well. I don't think I could say anymore. But enough about all this, we have some hostages to untie.", Mario responded again. After untying Krillin and Gohan, they told of how the Squadron captured them and destroyed their planet and how by this time when Chris arrived to face Master Hand they already destroyed 300 worlds in total. Chris then said, "I'll send Mike the message. After I find Vic, we'll find a way to rebuild the destroyed worlds. With our powers over these Swords of Balance, Light and Darkness we may find a way to reverse the effects they put on the worlds." Krillin and Gohan nodded as Gohan asked, "What would you want us to do then Chris?" Chris then told of the fight between Victor and Cell and how Mike already engaged the 'Lord'. Chris accepted them as the army of resistance from destroyed worlds continued to grow and Chris claimed the Destiny Crest from under the Squadron's nose.

Soon enough Chris found out Victor was on Earth as well with everyone else such as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Inuyasha and co., etc. He travelled into the city and eventually found them with good ease. They were near the Calgary Tower and ran towards them and explained about Mike, 'the Lord', and Master Hand. However he remembered one last thing Mario told him. {Flashback "I must not be known about okay Chris? I wouldn't want to worry Luigi about my involvement in this fight. I'll come and aid you guys when the time is right, but for now I must remain in secrecy. I'll see you all again, someday.", Mario replied. With that he summoned a star and flew away on it. end Flashback}

Chris also put the Destiny Crest in Victor's pocket and told him as he looked to him while everyone ran with him to find Mike, "I picked this up off of Master Hand. He had it in his possession and all so I figured a Destiny Crest is a Destiny Crest. So this Evergreen has a Destiny Crest eh? We'll see for how long though." With that the group ran faster and faster hoping to find Mike, 'the Lord', and Evergreen and acquire the next Destiny Crest and hopefully end this little war once and for all.

(This takes me back with fighting Master Hand and all. Also another of the Squadron is revealed. I won't give much away about the next chapter although I should say this for sure, the identity of 'the Lord' will be revealed soon enough and 'his' purpose in all of this. Now why you ask I would say this when we know about the Squadron's want from the Destiny Crests? Read on to find out.)

(Next Time: Mike vs. the Lord.)


	28. Chapter 27

**Mike vs. the Lord**

Through a brown portal came Victor, Chris, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Henry, Torahne, and Inuyasha and co. as they arrived in the peaceful Radiant Garden: or so they thought. Victor searched and searched the land. He scraped some blue dirt from the ground (as is the world of Radiant Garden made from blue ground) and sniffed it a little. Sora, Kairi, Henry and Riku we're a little creeped out by this display as Kairi asked, "What are you doing?" Chris responded for Victor, "He's analyzing the ground you guys. We don't just do stuff with technology or fight and fight. We also do all kinds of stuff spiritually and connect to the worlds around us to know what a situation is like. In Vic's case that means sniffing the air for trouble." Victor dropped the dirt and said holding out his Sword of Light as did Inuyasha with his Tetsaiga, Torahne with his brown keyblade, and Chris with his Sword of Balance as well as Riku with his Soul Eater as Victor said, "We've got company you guys." Then before everyone knew it, there were black hooded men everywhere and a huge army of Heartless and Nobodies behind them as well.

The group rushed in as Sora, Riku and Mickey as well as Victor and Chris, Kairi and Henry transformed into their respectable armour (gold for Sora, light black (if there is such a thing) for Riku, light brown for Mickey, pink for Kairi and grey for Henry). Then the attack begun as the entire group slashed at Heartless after Heartless and Nobody after Nobody. Victor used his Sword of Light in a magnificent fashion by pressing down on the ground projecting himself forward and twirling around in multiple circles scraping the ground and destroying thirty nobodies and fifty heartless in a single slash, Torahne jumped high into the sky and slammed the ground as it shattered the Squadron's defenses and killed off many Heartless and Nobodies as well and even Riku and Sora double teamed together by running swiftly and slashed at each enemy left, right, left, right, left and right again and then jumped high into the air and then slashed a barrage of enemies totaling over 120 of them in just ten seconds. Even Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy combined some of their efforts, like Donald's magic, Goofy's strength, Mickey's keyblade, and Kairi's keyblade of pure kindess (since I imagined that when one uses a keyblade it has a lot to do with their personalities too on how they use their keyblades) to destroy a good portion of the Squadron as well. Torahne and Henry meanwhile engaged a familiar character they met earlier on their adventures with Victor and co. It was Mephiles.

Henry looked upon the shady character as he said, "You got a lot of nerve showing your face here!!" Mephiles laughed and summoned a barrier around himself and Torahne and Henry as he replied, "At last, I face the former Xehanort and the legendary Oracle of Destiny. So you've heard of the worlds falling and our capture of five out of the seven princesses of life, our plans are already coming into fruition. Even that of Anastasia was no match for us." The group froze as they heard this. Even Inuyasha and co. were silent upon hearing this and with Henry nearby Victor who tilted his head towards the ground asked holding his left hand, "Are you okay Victor?" Victor brushed off Henry's hand lightly as Sora and co. gasped a little at this and Sora thought, 'Poor Victor. They've really done it now.' "Torahne we gotta get moving. Let's finish him off now!!", Victor yelled. Torahne nodded and soon enough Victor slashed at Mephiles valiantly as the grey hedgehog multiplied and spread sludge on the grounds of Radiant Garden everywhere and before anything could be done, Torahne and Victor slashed at Mephiles and literally destroyed him with ease as well.

The group paused after this fight and Torahne asked if Victor was okay. Chris then replied saying, "There's no time for feeling sorry about anything. Victor, we should get moving." Victor nodded as he said, "Let's just stick together okay guys? The last thing we need is unnecessary confrontation." The group headed north, towards the Great Maw where Michael and the Lord were engaged in hot pursuit of each other. Mike was in his black dark armour and wielded the Sword of Darkness relying more on his strength and his courage to fight off the Lord. The whole gang, Victor, Chris, Sora and co., Inuyasha and co., Torahne and Henry arrived in time to see Mike slash past the Lord's hooded face and the Lord jump towards Mike and smack his face hard with his right hand. Mike then grabbed the Lord, threw him in the air and launched the Sword of Darkness like a deadly armed boomerang slicing his body sixteen times in mid-air and then Mike jumped and smacked him right in his face launching him down towards the rocky landscape of the world smashing a cliffside. Mike held his Sword of Darkness to his left side panting underneath the black protection of his armour and from the cloudy smoke came the Lord all, but unscratched even after all those heavy blows. But he was tired and exhausted as well just like Mike as he said, "Impressive. I misjudged your capacities Michael. You truly are the 'hero of all heroes'." Mike then said, "That's Mike. Now take off your hood and reveal yourself. I like to know who I'm facing before I destroy them."

Low and behold, the man lifted his hood down to reveal a man who looked just like Marluxia, but his hair was white, his eyes were brown, and his skin lightly tanned like that of Xehanort. This man wielded a sword like that of Mike, but it was rainbow coloured and had a bright shine on its exterior when the sun shone down on it. "I am the leader of the Squadron, Sirion. I have been studying you and the MVC for the past three years. I also knew that you'd all be my answer to this long problem of mine that involved our experiments." "Stop. Just stop there Sirion, you're only repeating what we know now. I also happen to know that my brothers and I have collected a vast majority of the Destiny Crests. It'll only be a matter of time before we have all eight of them and then we can turn the tables on you." Sirion laughed as he said this and replied, "Why but what fun would it be if the party ended so soon. Lucifer is returning from his prison, and when he does you'll be the first to feel his wrath." Sirion disappeared and Mike demorphed from his armour as did everyone else behind him.

Then conversations were engaged as Victor and Chris explained. "Excellent. We at least have earned another Destiny Crest and this Evergreen fellow, where would he be now Chris?", Mike asked. "I don't know. He just took off. He said he was off to face the World of the Kai.", Chris replied. Sora then asked with Henry and Inuyasha in unison, "The World of the Kai?" "It's a world I went to when I was only thirteen for the first time. It's the same place I squared off against Kidd Buu with Goku. I know that he's already freeing worlds as we speak from destruction as are the Master Chief, Batman and Superman as well." Then Victor asked, "So where does that leave us then?" "We'll have to split up Vic. Sirion knows a lot about us. If we stick together, he'll surely kill us all if we're not too careful. Worse yet, he could get Henry and the Destiny Crests we have as well. But if we were separate, it'd take him and his army a long time to pin point our exact positions though." Sora and the others nodded as Chris then said, "Now we gotta choose who's going where." Inuyasha and co. opened a white portal and then Kagome said, "It may be risky, but we're going to see if we can free more worlds and find any survivors too. It'll give you guys more time to think as well." Victor and the others nodded as Inuyasha and co. disappeared into the white portal bound for who knows where. Mike summoned three portals: one black, one white, and one brown.

Unanimously Chris, Luigi (who mysteriously appeared the second the portals were opened) Goofy and Kairi went into the brown portal, Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry went together in the white portal, and Mike, Torahne, Mickey and Riku went into the black portal. In the brown portal Luigi explained to Chris that he wanted to help out as much as he could after hearing that Chris saw his brother, Mario. Yet even as the group split up, a greater evil was overseeing them and it wasn't Sirion. He was tall, muscular, wore black robes and reeked of death itself: Lucifer himself was biding his time looking over Radiant Garden's peaceful tranquility, admiring how evil from him alone had managed to travel even to a distant place such as this world.

(A crazy and interesting chapter I should say. I could have made it longer, but for time sake voted against it. Now if you guys remember from my last story, the Legend of the White Knight, and in the secret ending of my story was Sora's dream and the letters and that specific word…don't remember well here it is: TORPACILKE. What is the meaning of that specific word and the connection to the story is very key to because it actually has a lot to do with not only the MVC (Mike, Vic and Chris) but also to Henry and the Lord (Sirion) himself. As I progress into the story it will become clearer. Until next time, stay tuned for more.)

(Next Time: A Civil War Beginning in Tears.)

(Review.)


	29. Chapter 28

**A Civil War Beginning in Tears**

After all was said and done, everyone was split up respectively Chris, Luigi, Kairi and Goofy went off in one direction heading towards Twilight Town, Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry went off in another to the legendary planet of the 'Anime Planet', a land that hence it's name was where all things created from earth as Japanese cartoons, comics (manga and anime), etc. all lived, and Mike, Torahne, Mickey and Riku headed off into the farthest reaches of space to one of the greatest space stations known in human history: The Anthrogaunt, a legendary spacecraft roughly the size of the planet Earth itself, equipped to handle any danger that would dare to cross its borders and the very same newly created headquarters of one man that equaled Mike's tenacity: Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.

Chris, Luigi, Kairi and Goofy arrived in the quiet, sunset filled world of Twilight Town through the same portal that took them there from Radiant Garden and found that much had changed in this world. There were streamers hanging on every building, a long single white line stretching across where the main street was, the very same place that had the free tram would be moving along, but it was taken off its electric track and put up as a side ornament to the town already filled with other such equipment. Then before any of them knew it, a man dressed in a black, dark as night suit ran by with a briefcase in his right hand and some documents in his other hand heading for the pedestal at the Central Station of Station Heights. He also looked a lot like Jafar, but was more sophisticated than him (oddly enough) and his hair was red rather than brunette. Just as he was passing by, he noticed the four people watching him pass by and said, "Perfect!!" Chris and the others looked at each other as Luigi asked, "Perfect for what sir?" "Why the annual Twilight Town competition of course dear children and uh…my dear foreign visitors, of course." They looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders as this tall, redheaded man explained.

Apparently in the time Sora was absent after Kingdom Hearts 2 and with his adventures abroad, a lot had changed in Twilight Town. They had started up a competition festival like no other. It was so grand and spectacular; all the people in the area were already at the Central Station awaiting for it to begin. This competition was also so popular that it made the struggle matches they are so notorious for look like a mere figment of the past. Then the man, Isis as he called himself explained that they were short of at least four people (how convenient) to actually have a competition of fifteen contestants. Isis then said, "Oh please would you all join up? Without four competitors, we'd have no possible way of setting up the main events." Then Kairi asked, "What would we win if we entered and won the competition entirely?" "Funny you should ask my dear fine child. Come. All shall be explained should all of you join up." Chris then said, "As a member of the MVC I accept and I speak for all of us when I say we shall join up."

Isis cried when he heard this saying, "Oh this is the happiest day of my life. You don't know how grateful I truly am right now." Luigi and the others shrugged their heads as Chris then showed Isis a picture of the green hooded man, Evergreen, who took a Destiny Crest and asked, "Before we do though, can I ask if you've seen this man at all?" Isis became silent as he said, "I think we'd best save this conversation for later. I have to commence the opening ceremony." The others nodded as they arrived at the top right at the Central Station where many people where gathered along with the competitors: There was Hayner, Olette, Pence, Seifer, Setzer, Fuu and five other members from different worlds that apparently were strong to halt the Squadron's invasion quite well. Among them were Chief Inspector Lee and Detective James Carter, The Spartan, Spiderman, and the legendary man of adventure himself, Indiana Jones. Of all the people that Chris saw, he only knew Inspector Lee and James Carter (from the perfect Trio) and of course the Spartan and Inspector Lee and James Carter knew Goofy though so some introductions occurred as Carter said, "Hey long time no see Chris. How's it going?" Chris said, "It's pretty good Carter. I see Inspector Lee's doing okay as well. These guys here are of course Goofy, Kairi and Luigi. They're with me doing some investigating in on the Squadron and as of now also with me to compete in…what's this competition called again?" Carter then said, "The 2nd Annual Twilight Town Festival apparently. Listen to Isis here. He's going to start any moment."

So after plenty of conversations and clapping from being introduced, Isis then raised his hands and said, "Loyal citizens of Twilight Town, it is my great to pleasure to commence the 2nd Annual Twilight Town competition. I regret to inform that last year's champion, Luke Skywalker, resigned the title in order to protect his realm from the ongoing onslaught of the Squadron unfortunately and let us be thankful that our militia is so strong that even the Squadron would have a heck of a time trying to conquer us. Aside from all that though, I now officially declare this competition to commence immediately tomorrow. For those who are new to our world I shall explain the rules of the competition: There are four main events to this competition: One involves "The Road to Gaulle", a race to the finish which is the final event, "Boxer-a-ma", a boxing tournament, a long "Obstacle Course of Mayhem" as we have dubbed it, and an extreme version of Trivial pursuit, we'd like to call Triple Double Single." Chris then said to Luigi as this went on, "This actually kind of reminds me of something I saw as a kid on t.v once." Luigi nodded as they saw each event up close in pictures on a bulletin board behind Isis. There was a game show spinning wheel right beside Isis that also would be used in deciding who would be in which event and whatnot.

There was a newly built blue electronic scoreboard that said Green, Blue and Red: the presumed teams that would be in this competition. There was also the blank score of zero on each of the team's supposed scores as well since the competition was just starting. The grand prize of the competition would be some of the most high tech of all I-pods (who knew, even in other worlds they have fine taste), New ski equipment by a renowned company of SALOMAN in Twilight Town, a grand golden trophy the size of an SUV, and a million Twilight Town munny (in US currency would be about 700,000 dollars). After the main introduction was done, Isis then said, "So to all of those visiting, I welcome you to Twilight Town and hope you enjoy your stay. For those requiring a place to stay, the Holiday Inn is currently available and at a cheap price for visitors at only forty dollars a night. Good night, and may the best man…er I mean team win." Later that night, Chris and Luigi rented out room 201 in the Holiday Inn and Kairi and Goofy were next door in 203 with the various other competitors on the four and five floors and other visitors (spectators) just taking up the third floor and sixth floor of the Holiday Inn enjoying the sights and sees of the town.

Isis knocked on the door of 201 and Chris answered it as Isis came in and sat down on a nice comfy bed in a very green coloured room (since in this holiday inn every room has its own colour theme, setting theme, etc. Then moments later Chris asked, "So you know about Evergreen then?" Isis nodded as he said, "He tried to invade our little town through force. He sent his finest men to capture our world a week ago and we beat them like a drum. He even went as far as to pretending to be one of our militia and nearly started a civil war in our fair little town in the oddest way. He made a mother cry by nearly killing her five year old daughter and sparks flew all over. If it weren't for my sharp skills and wisdom to guide these people and eventually prove this Evergreen as the fraud he is, who knows what Twilight Town would been in today. Ashamed that he brought shame to the Squadron, he relinquished this letter to me and ran off saying he was headed to the Anime Planet to challenge a man by the name of Victor apparently." Chris and Luigi then said, "The MVC." Isis nodded as he said, "They must've gone to a lot of trouble to plan this little invasion out though." Chris asked, "How so?" "Why they brought some fine weaponry they acquired when defeating other worlds. I recognized some of the equipment, but others I did not know for sure. One pistol gun in particular came from a world I visited as a child: Gotham City. I was told from Evergreen that he conquered many worlds in his quest to find the Destiny Crest and actually tried to steal one from me as well." Chris and Luigi hit the ceiling literally and gasped as Chris asked in sheer excitement, "You have a Destiny Crest?!?" Isis nodded and said, "I protected it well and made a part of the Trophy we just showed outside a moment ago. I cannot give you the trophy, but I can give you the Destiny Crest though. Here." Chris was handed the Destiny Crest as he said, "But I couldn't accept this. It's not right." Isis nodded and smiled, "Take it. Better you to have it and save the universe than for us to keep it and eventually lose it to the Squadron by a twist of fate."

Chris explained their situation carefully as he explained the two Destiny Crests that Mike and him got in the Counterstrike Planet, the one Victor got in Pocahontas' world, and the one Chris had gotten were very important to their quest and that one was also captured by the Squadron: the first of the eight needed for their diabolical plans. Isis then replied closing Chris' hands, "All the more reason to keep this one. Now then, I must go now. I need to get my rest so I can commence the first set of events. Each team will be involved in a rotation schedule which was what I explained before in the opening ceremony with the game show spinning wheel. One team will do Triple Double Single another will do a different event, but the "Road to Gaulle" is the only event that all of the teams will be involved together to determine our winner. I'm sorry I said too much already. Good night boys. Take care until tomorrow." Chris and Luigi nodded as they headed off for bed. Meanwhile Isis headed up the elevator to his room, 709 to prepare his opening remarks for each event and shut the door behind him as he dropped his suitcase in a dark, dark room.

(I got creative again and am slightly reusing an element I used in KH: Legend of the White Knight with the race in the 100 acrewood and also a few elements of a classic gameshow I used to watch as a kid too. You'll likely catch on to which show I mean when we actually get to the next chapter. I'll give another explanation anyway so nothing to stress over if you don't know.)

(Next Time: Let the games Begin.)


	30. Chapter 29

Let the games begin

For the oddest reason, it began raining in Twilight Town of all worlds. So the games were slightly postponed for the next little while. It wasn't an entire loss though. The teams were set up as follows: Chris, Kairi, Goofy, Luigi and Indiana Jones were together as part of the Green Team (my little brother's favorite color); Hayner, Pence, Olette, Fuu and the Spartan as part of the Red Team and Inspector Lee, James Carter, Spiderman, Setzer and Seifer were on the Blue Team together. It was neck and neck with many of the competitors being whipped in the face by green goo and other buckets of water with food colouring and others with oatmeal to add to the gooish effect. This happened when someone of course was doing the competition in an odd way (i.e. instead of answering a question right, the answer was wrong.), or often by cheating as well. Yet through it all, the Green Team won the Triple Double Single round, the Blue Team won the Boxer-a-ma, and the Red Team won the Obstacle Course of Mayhem as well.

Now came the final event: the Road to Gaulle, a 12 mile long race track that revolved around getting to the very ends of Twilight Town's boundaries itself and back to the very same spot as the starting point: the Central Station. Isis took the top member from each team to the starting marker and was ready to begin the race with Chris representing the Green Team, Hayner representing the Red Team and Seifer representing the Blue Team. Chris's left hand was held by Luigi as he went to the starting track and he asked Chris, "How is my brother?" "He's fine Luigi. He apparently has missed you all this time too and was doing his best to protect you all from harm it's not even right of me to be speaking of it right now. I best be off." Luigi nodded and said, "Good luck. You always did remind me of him. You two are almost exactly one in the same." Then after getting set up at the starting line, Isis shot his gun off and the race began. Chris of course could have easily outran the competition because of his agile skills in martial arts (that being his special power like Mike with his power over technology and Victor with his power over imagination), but decided to play it fair and win with his regular human skills. They all ran neck and neck to and fro past the street common of Twilight Town and the Old Mansion as well. They made it as far as they could get to and then ran back fast as they could. Eventually Chris made it first only by a nose (literally) with Seifer and Hayner right behind him to take 2nd place and 3rd place respectively. Seifer walked up to Chris as he was awarded his prize as the new Twilight Town Champion and huffed some air and exhaled. Seifer then replied, "Congrats. It was a great competition. I don't think I could've ever beaten such a hard working competitor."

Hours passed, the games were done and over and the gang was beginning to settle down for the time being. They packed their things and said their goodbyes to all the new people they met. Even Isis, despite his busy paperwork came to say goodbye as well. "I have never seen such dedication, but yet still proud at the same time. I'm glad you were all able to participate." Chris nodded and opened a portal to leave, yet as he did a laugh came from nowhere. From a dark portal came a man in a black hooded suit. He revealed his face and many other hooded men surrounded the populace of Twilight Town as he walked towards Chris and his friends who soon prepared themselves for battle. Chris and Kairi especially transformed into their armoured suits as well (Chris = Brown and Kairi = Pink) The black hooded man looked a lot like Xigbar from Org. XIII only that he didn't have the guns that Xigbar had but rather a bow with unlimited arrows at his disposal. "So it would seem I have the pleasure of facing one of the great members of the MVC and one of the three great powers of the universe." Chris asked, "Who are you man?" "The name is Cyonilis. I travelled a great long way to find you and your friends. You have something the Squadron needs: that Destiny Crest which eluded Evergreen's grasp. Now either you give it to us, or the streets of Twilight Town will bask in the blood baths of its precious populace."

Chris then said, "I'll strike a deal with you." All the people around him were shaking their heads as he winked to Luigi, Goofy and Kairi. "If you can defeat me, the Destiny Crest is yours. If I defeat you, your men must leave and never speak of what happened here. If you do, my older brother Mike will hunt you down like the vermin you are." Cyonilis agreed to the terms and dropped a black orb on the ground and from it a giant platform carried Chris and himself into the air. It created a large dome around themselves and prevented outsiders from interfering. This would be a battle for the ages. Cyonilis made the first move as he blinded Chris with smoke bombs coming from his 'dud' arrows as he dubbed them. Next, he shot ten of his finest and deadliest arrows right at the boy and a large explosion occurred. The people were silent and prayed for a miracle. Kairi asked Luigi, "Do you think he'll be alright?" "I don't know. Anything could happen. Chris has been a very powerful young warrior despite being the youngest in his family. Yet the Squadron is never to be taken lightly either, I should know I was rescuing innocent people everywhere with him when the first started the initial attacks on nearby worlds close to us." Kairi looked to the smoke and saw Chris appear from it and slash Cyonilis three powerful times cutting up his suit a tiny bit. Cyonilis teleported above him and shot four more arrows right at the boy and Chris felt a sharp pain in his back as Cyonilis replied, "Hurts don't it? These arrows are made from various toxins from your planet. I took some samples from the deadliest animals from your world and concocted a chemical so dangerous, one shot could kill a bull elephant in a millisecond. We'll see how long you'll last."

Chris began to feel the effects of the toxin shortly afterwards and it slowed him down just enough for Cyonilis to bash him in the face with his right knee. Then he punched him four hard times in the gut and karate kicked him right to the ends of the dome. Chris though was much stronger than Cyonilis had anticipated though. Chris then grabbed Cyonilis's left leg as he attempted to karate kick him again into submission and twisted his left leg counterclockwise and said, "I wasn't born yesterday. You can't pull the wool over my eyes." Then Chris smacked the man to and fro upon the cold ground of the black dome and was weakened severely. Chris then held his sword to his throat and asked, "Tell me about the Lord. He has to be pulling some strings here if he really wants these Destiny Crests that bad. Methinks you underestimated me and the Lord wants to end this conflict nice and quick." Cyonilis coughed as the Sword of Balance was blocking his air passageway and replied as best he could, "There is talk of a great era arriving. A great evil by the name of Lucifer arrived in Ailiana weeks ago and was told of a great code that could grant him his power with the aid of the Destiny Crests, the Oracle of Destiny and the Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness: Torpacilke." Chris let go of Cyonilis' throat and then said, "Go on." "I've said too much already, I should kill you now while I have the chance." Then Chris raised Cyonilis up and said, "Go before I change my mind. I could kill you too, but I don't want to for two reasons: it violates the code of the MVC for one to release an enemy out of respect for them and I also don't like to get my hands dirty."

Yet as Chris let him go, Cyonilis pulled out another arrow and aimed for his heart, but Chris slashed at his heart first with great precision and speed as Cyonilis replied, "Good show, now I see why you were named "the agile cheetah of the great powers"". Cyonilis dissolved away like Eailox and his heart appeared and disappeared into the sky with a poof of fluffy clouds likewise. The dome disappeared and the populace cheered as the hooded men disappeared from the area all together. Chris then said to Isis, "The poison should wear off in about a few hours. I was trained to handle the toughest challenges the universe could throw at me like my older brothers before me." Isis nodded and said, "You did well son. You are a brave and good champion." Chris walked off with the rest of his group, but not before saying, "I couldn't have done it without my friends here beside me."

Meanwhile, Evergreen arrived on the Anime Planet in an anime version of New York City and pinpointed Victor's location to that of an anime version of Toronto. "I got you now boy. When I get my hands on you, your friends will wish they had surrendered a long time ago like the cowards they are." He raced off to Toronto, with a full battalion at his command and headed northwards with a storm beginning to brew amongst the Atlantic Coastline.

(This chapter was pretty short, like many others before it, but I feel that I got a lot accomplished. The referenced gameshow I was trying to show was that of 'UH OH!', a classic kids show that involved the above coloured teams, slime and gross activities and other odd ball trivia and other challenges. The prizes nowadays would be considered old and rusty like that of old 80s telephones or disco, but for its time was a revolution in the approach at how kids like myself could learn stuff about the world (to an extent) and also get put to the test physically sometimes. I apologize for the massive delays. It has been a killer pain at fixing the problems I had and then the issues I had with the Perfect Trio and I was concerned that it could be too similar to that of KH BBS or KH 1 in general. Anyways getting back to the point, it would seem Lucifer has his own plans for the Destiny Crests as well (this is confusing I know, but all that you guys will need to know thus far is this: each antagonist has their own motives in this story and thus Lucifer has a different motive than the Squadron in general). I will be doing something similar to that of the Perfect Trio as well in that I going back and forth between Chris' group, Victor's group and Mike's group as well for a little while. The good news is that we have officially hit the climax. I can't guarantee when my next chapter will be up, but hopefully within the next couple of days or so. More yet to come, so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The War has begun.)

(Review.)


	31. Chapter 30

The War has begun

As Chris, Goofy, Luigi and Kairi were off participating in the Twilight Town competition; Victor meanwhile took Sora, Donald, and Henry through his white portal off to the Anime Planet to evade the onslaught of the Squadron and their mighty empire. They took a break in an anime version of Toronto and the city was exactly like the original back on Earth down to every detail, except for one thing. As our heroes strolled downtown through a crisp, calm afternoon, the growling of someone's stomach beckoned for attention. It came from Henry as the poor boy turned red and shied away in embarrassment.

Victor patted the guy on his back to which Donald and Sora gave a slight giggle. Victor then said, "I guess we'll have to find a good place to eat. If I know my cities right on this planet there should be a Chinese food place right over…" Then Victor pointed just a couple of blocks north to a tiny black store with a large sign that read "Fa Yang's Chinese Buffet". Unfortunately it was a good long twenty minute walk for the group as Sora asked, "Isn't there another place nearby?" "Sorry Sora. That's just how it is. Besides it won't be so bad. I can sense a Destiny Crest nearby.", Victor replied. They kept walking and Sora asked again, "How can you tell?"

"My imagination is more than just my special power. It can also help me navigate around unknown area.", Victor answered. Henry observed a lot of the area around town and noticed a lot of girls looking and staring at the group, particularly at Victor. They had hearts in their eyes to boot which made things a little tenser for Henry. Henry pulled on Victor's black t-shirt and asked, "Hey Victor, have you noticed that every girl is…" "Love struck? I know. This isn't the first time this has happened." Sora also noticed the girls observing Victor and some were looking at Sora too, especially a few girls that wore shirts saying "I love Sora!!!" The group was then surrounded by a humongous group of the girls as a single blonde girl wearing biker clothes and a tattoo of Donkey Kong on her left arm approached Victor.

"Hey buddy, wanna have a good time tonight?", the blonde asked with hearts in her blue steamy eyes. Victor said, "Listen you got me all wrong here sweetie. I already have a girlfriend and…" The girls crept closer and closer and they surrounded and separated Donald, Goofy, Henry and Victor as the blonde girl said, "Well this girl of yours must not be that special if you aren't with her now huh?" Victor felt the nape of his neck get breathed on which sent a creepy tingle down his spine and to his toes. He turned red and thought to himself, 'Why is it that I always get hunted down by a bunch of horny school girls right before I can get a good lunch?'Then Victor snapped his fingers and in a blinding white light snatched Sora, Donald and Henry away leaving the girls in wonder and amazement as to where they could have gone. The girls did not give up though without a fight however. They kept searching every nook and cranny for the group.

It seemed to get worse as Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry had to find a new hiding place every five minutes to give them the slip. Eventually the girls gave up though and went back to their business. They began resting outside a Holiday Inn right a block away from the "Fa Yang Chinese Buffet". The group once again began walking the long block to the restaurant and in the nick of time because Henry collapsed from exhaustion. As they finally arrived and began eating away at their sweet and sour pork beef and rice, Sora asked, "Where are the men here in this city? I don't think I've seen one guy since we got here."

"This is typical Sora. A lot of the girls here can't afford to work because they got either like partying, have a family to take care of, or they just simply have to take care of the elderly in these parts.", Victor replied. Sora nodded and Henry then asked, "So where do you think the Destiny Crest is?" "It shouldn't be too far, but it still is a long trek to where we need to go yet. It actually is in Montreal, just to the east.", Victor once again answered. "Hopefully we'll be able to find it before the Squadron does. Now eat up friends, we got a lot of ground to cover."

An hour passed and soon our heroes were full from a hearty lunch and headed for the exit. Yet as they began to leave the restaurant, they were confronted by another member of the Squadron. It was Evergreen of the Squadron's eight main members. He appeared with similar men in green hooded suits and revealed his face to his opponents. He looked a lot like Luxord and even walked like him, but his unique weapon was cards. He pulled out a golden pair of gauntlets with spikes on the knuckles and placed his hands one by one into each gauntlet.

They weighed over six hundred pounds each, but he didn't even feel burdened by this weight at all. "You all have nerve showing your faces around here. First your friend Torahne kills Eailox and then your brother Chris kills off Cyonilis. Mark my words they shall have their revenge on you boy.", Evergreen proclaimed. Victor could only laugh at this gesture though as Henry, Sora and Donald looked at him with worried faces. Evergreen steamed at this rudeness and yelled, "You think this is funny?!? Go my men attack." Victor sighed as this occurred and soon enough the whole gang was slashing away at every man that Evergreen sent right at them. Donald zapped forty men quickly, Henry transformed into his grey armoured suit and slashed away at thirty men in single swoop, Sora used his ultimate drive limit to knock out fifty men, and Victor being as talented as he was in a snap of his fingers destroyed a hundred men in a single millisecond.

Darkness soon made himself known in the world of the Anime Planet and the skies soon darkened as Evergreen's men cowardly ran off. Evergreen looked left and right as he yelled to his crew to come back and fight. Then after a brief few seconds, he yelled, "Cowards!! Fine I'll deal with this brute myself." Evergreen attacked Victor, but the boy held his right gauntlet with ease and punched him in his throat. Victor threw him in the air and Darkness soon appeared around the man as a dark cloud and showed Evergreen his worst fear ever: spiders. Acres and acres of spiders surrounded him and before he could scream, Darkness disappeared. Victor knelt down smiling at Evergreen and pulled him up. Sora, Donald and Goofy couldn't believe it. Evergreen especially couldn't believe it either and asked with confusion, "I don't get it. Why did you stop attacking me and why are you smiling?" Victor responded, "I don't really care for all this conflict."

"If you really want to fight me then why not fight someone like say, Henry.", Victor responded once more as he pointed to the green haired boy. Henry's eyes widened and the rest of the group screamed in a ridiculous fashion as Evergreen looked at the little boy and laughed his butt off. "You really ex-p-p-pect me to fight such a p-p-p-puny little shrimp such as this brat here?", Evergreen asked. Henry turned red with anger as he heard this and Victor said, "If you can beat Henry, then I won't hesitate the next time you want to fight me. If Henry wins, you gotta leave town and never come back, got it?" Evergreen nodded and set up a light green dome and he said cracking his neck, "This'll be the easiest fight I ever won." Victor held Henry's shoulders and said before he went in, "Just do what we practiced okay Henry. There's nothing to this fight, but patience and a lot of it. Whatever you do, do not use your armoured suit. Trust me, you'll thank me later for this." Henry nodded and entered the dome.

Donald quacked in panic as he asked Victor, "Do you realize what you've done? You're sending the boy to his grave here. He may be a strong fighter, but he's still just a child." "I know Donald, but let's face it. Suppose we get separated and Henry isn't up to snuff to protect himself. I wouldn't be doing my job then if the poor lad got captured and the Squadron managed to get a foothold on the MVC.", Victor responded. Evergreen charged down Henry and whacked his face with the golden gauntlet that surprisingly didn't cut Henry, but badly bruised him though as he fell to the cold hard ground. "You're lucky I didn't put metal in the spikes, but rather a light plastic adhesive. The only thing you're feeling is my fists essentially boy. If I were you I'd put up your dukes." So Henry obliged and raised his fists and whacked the man in his face, but in the end to no avail.

Henry got his gut and his chest bruised and battered. Soon after a few minutes of getting hammered, the poor boy collapsed on the ground aching and bruising all over as Evergreen stood over the little guy about to finish him off. Evergreen grinned at Victor as he said with an evil chuckle, "You lost this round boy. Now say you're prayers Victor. I'm coming on after you." Victor was also grinning as he replied, "I think not my friend." Then a large punch to his chin sent Evergreen flying across the 50 yard green dome and Henry charged onto Evergreen and smacked him around ten times across his face to which it began to bleed from his nose. He then uppercutted him into mid-air and elbowed him to the ground hard.

The dome dissolved and Henry stood over the six foot tall being in triumph as he laughed and praised himself over this victory and the gang ran to Henry and hugged him tightly. Evergreen stood up and being only a few feet away presented an indigo coloured gem ring to their faces as Victor said, "Well scratch going to Montreal. It looks like they got another Destiny Crest." "That's right boy. We're another step closer to our goal and another step closer to your demise. Henry…what a strange name, but one I will remember. No one makes me bleed my own blood and gets away with it. One of these days I will have my revenge on you.", Evergreen said.

With that Evergreen disappeared into his green portal and Henry replied, "Hopefully not before you get crutches first." After that last comment was made, the group burst into laughing and then Victor opened another portal, this one was heading into the past of this planet. "Where are we going now?", Sora asked. Victor said, "I got a bad feeling because I know where the last Destiny Crest, but it is right in the past and not in just any old year either. It's right in the middle of the Second Europan War, actually. Pack your bags fellas, we're going back to a time when war was a harsh reality." They all headed into the portal and would eventually find themselves in a war-torn country people called Gallia.

(This looks like a good place to stop. The fight was a little short, but Evergreen of course wasn't really trying at all on Henry and underestimated the boy thinking he would have won against him easily. Following good advice from a good viewer, I'll do what I can to structure these monsters I call paragraphs and so on and so forth. Also you would also have noticed near the end I have hinted at using Valkyria Chronicles in my story as well since it does have a good story line to it and would fit perfectly in the theme of my story as well.

For those of you who don't know what Valkyria Chronicles is, it basically is based on the Second World War in Europe with some slight differences and is a great pick for the PS3 for those interested. Now like last chapter, I am going to focus back on Mike and his group and rotate between Chris's group, Victor's group, and Mike's group likewise. There are still lots of info to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Master Chief.)

(Review.)


	32. Chapter 31

**The Master Chief**

Triangular, monstrous black and steam covered ships patrolled the universe's north quadrant: Mike's domain. The lead ship was a red-black coloured ship with the mark of death on each side: An evil looking skull with bones crossed behind it. Commanding the lead ship was none other than Ryolo, the same man in that brown hooded suit Mike faced a little over month ago back on the Counterstrike planet. His blue hair was flowing like a river downstream, and his green eyes were cold and so insidious that even one stare from anyone would send shivers down their spines. The command room he was in was red in colour, the floor was gruesome green in colour and metal coating, and the dashboard for the ship looked like that of most modern airplanes on Earth, but with a few extra buttons for deploying troops and firing weapons.

A portal appeared and a man in black hooded suit, his assistance officer said holding his arm up in a classic army man salute, "Squads five, six and seven are all situated at the Anthrogaunt's base and awaiting the order, sir!!" Ryolo smiled and asked briefly, "What about my commands for squads two through four?" His assistance officer took out a piece of paper and read it aloud. "Squads three and four reported to be a little tangled up with some minor attacks here and there, but have made it to the bow of the Anthrogaunt and squad two has reported in as well making it to the portside as well."

Ryolo's smiled ceased as he finally made contact with the Anthrogaunt just a few light years away. With his ship's superior technology and his finest men aboard his legendary 'Squad one', the harbinger of the Squadron's wrath, and the fleet that ravaged galaxies and of course with their massive overhaul of weaponry, they were a force to be reckoned with. To add of course 85 % of the worlds destroyed by the Squadron came in fact from Ryolo's masterful and powerful battalion. Ryolo stared down at the Anthrogaunt: a massive planet sized grey ship with an electric purple barrier for extra protection against attack. It resembled that of of the Death Star in an odd way, but it was more triangular likewise than the Death Star and was made in fact entirely of rocks from other worlds and gummi blocks (ahhh I remember building them to my ship in KH 1 and 2).

If that weren't enough to cause a panic amongst the soldiers of his elite squads, there were also acres and acres of gunman posts everywhere with weapons capable of destroying ships twice the size of the Squadron and for good reason. The ship held within it one of the most powerful warriors in the universe, respectively after the MVC of course with their dominance and powers of the Eternal Beyond. Ryolo raised his hand in the air and said, "Today it ends. After today, the universe will witness the Squadron's rise as the new universal empire and its name will be feared as the most legendary of all villains and all evils in this universe. On my command…" Ryolo's assistance officer awaited his response. "Charge!!!!", Ryolo replied with anger in his voice. The ships dove in to the Anthrogaunt like lions going in for the kill.

Hours earlier, Mike, Torahne, Riku and King Mickey arrived from Radiant Garden and found themselves inside a giant lounging area. There was granite on the ten foot long bar the ship had on the east side to right next door and to their left on the west side next door was one of the largest swimming pool/water parks the north quadrant had ever known, being as wide as that of 5 km and over 400,000 miles long. There was a large window that they saw and as they peered outside they could see the Sun miles and miles as a tiny dot in the middle of space amongst a countless starry sky glistening with mystery. There was also a giant HD TV as well that covered half the of the gigantic twenty by forty foot window of the lounging room they were in. Mike said, "Just as I remember it. Everything's here." Mickey asked, "Everything? This place is enormous. It's so high tech, even the couches are advanced." Torahne sat down on a five foot long couch that even had robotic arms pop out and give him a back massage to which he replied, "Oh man who ever owns this place sure knows how to live."

Riku then asked, "Speaking of which who does own this place anyway?" "I'm glad you asked.", answered a voice from above. Coming down an electric powered black elevator was none other than Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 or the Master Chief for short. "Michael!!", the Master Chief said looking upon an old friend. "Master Chief!!", Mike also turned to face the man and said in kind. They ran up to each other and grabbed the opposite hand; Mike's left hand grabbed the Master Chief's right hand and hugged each other tightly. Then afterwards, Mike then said with honour and respect, "Everyone, I would like to introduce the Master Chief also known as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. This man and I have history that stretches back to when I was in Junior High. He was a role model for me and to this day a good friend."

The Master Chief laughed at this gesture and replied, "Really? You my friend are too modest. If it weren't for you and your fast maneuvering skills, I don't know how we could have defeated the Covenant." Mike waved his hand down as a kind gesture for 'it was nothing'. Master Chief this is Riku, King Mickey, and Torahne formerly known as Xehanort." After some brief introductions the Master said, "Well I hope you guys enjoy your stay here at the Anthrogaunt and if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call." The group nodded and The Master Chief temporarily left outside the lounging area back to the main command center: an eleven foot long orb looking room that held the ships most dire secrets, steered it and navigated it, and also acted as the control center for possible evacuation should the need were ever to arise.

Soon enough Mike's group got settled in to their new temporary base of operations and Mike would soon explain his plan of attack. Mike, Torahne, Riku and King Mickey gathered together in the Master Dining Hall, a gigantic living room where as its name suggests where the residents would usually eat their fill is. Mike then unveiled a map over a finely chiseled and decorated European table that so happened to be covered by a fine cloth. He put three pins across different areas of the map and then called his meeting to order: one was in Twilight Town, the 'Anime Planet' and of course on the Anthrogaunt where their meeting was taking place.

"Okay, so here's where we stand. I hold here the map of the universe and each quadrant my brothers and I are operating in. The Squadron is officially attacking the 'Anime Planet' as we speak and unfortunately Victor and his group will have a lot more fighting on their schedule as planned. Right now I've already given Chris his orders. It's only a matter of time before we gain a big offensive.", Mike said. Riku then asked, "So Victor's group then? They could be in for a rough time and without any place to go they're as good as dead meat with all those troops there." Mike took out another pin and placed it just between the Anthrogaunt and Twilight Town and another between the Anthrogaunt and the 'Anime Planet'.

"This is where it'll get tougher. I will not lie to you guys, this definitely is not going as well as I would've hoped for. The Squadron not only has the all seven of the Princesses of Life now, unfortunately Inuyasha had a bad break with them, and they also have two of the Destiny Crests too. I picked these two spots on the map, Port Royal and Sunset Horizons I believe, seeing as they are key points to gaining for either side and likely could determine the fate of the war in the long run.", Mike continued. The Master Chief came in quietly and sat down as he laid down his gun.

"Is there anything I can do for an old friend? I know since my world was taken by them gosh for sakes Squadron it's been a living nightmare for the survivors I got aboard the ship. Plus I know sooner or later they'll come to attack us as well, barrier or no barrier.", The Master Chief implied. Mike nodded and King Mickey said, "How do you know the Squadron will attack? This ship is as safe as a dollar bill in two hundred bank safes. They'd need over a hundred thousand troops to even budge the barrier let alone break it." The Master Chief shook his head and said, "I don't know. It's just a feeling I guess. Plus many of the crew felt terrible when Earth was lost." Torahne then said, "But I thought Victor and the rest of us saved Earth." Mike shook his head.

He then said, "No Torahne. You see there are actually different galaxies that have the name 'Earth' apparently so I've just taken the liberty at naming my home Earth 1. Master Chief's home is known as Earth 132. It just came about because apparently a lot of worlds were created by people from my planet and the games they designed. Getting back to the point though these two worlds are our biggest concern as of right now. Likely if we hurry we could intercept each world and halt the onslaught of the Squadron if not more so." King Mickey then asked, "Do you think there is any chance of defeating them?" Mike shook his head, but not for an intentional no type answer. He replied, "We can always hope, but first we have to take these two worlds as our own. Then we can turn the tables on them. We'll take the last two Destiny Crests and rescue the Princesses of Life and the last thing we got to do is lock the Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness so that they are never used again."

The plan was straight forward except for the fleets that would plan to attack both of those worlds as well. Mike carefully explained that while Chris and Mike would aim to take each of the worlds as part of their own base of operations, Victor and his group would square off against the battalion that would soon arrive past Twilight Town and the 'Anime Planet'. The meeting adjourned and they later ate supper and relaxed for the time being. Torahne arrived at Mike's private dorm, 406. "Knocking doesn't agree with you I take it?", Mike asked. "Mike do you mind if I ask a question?", Torahne asked.

"By all means, shoot.", the tall brunette replied. Minutes passed as Torahne asked his question to Mike. Does my past matter or is it just a way to reflect on what's already passed. "You remind me a lot of my younger brother, Victor. He was exactly the same way. The second we left Calgary back in Canada to go back to Edmonton, he wasn't the same ever since. He felt a slight bit depressive over the years and slowly bounced back to where he is today, but the scars still show. I'd personally just forget about what you did. What matters is what we do now, not what we do tomorrow or what we did yesterday.", Mike replied. Torahne smiled at this gesture and soon a black armoured soldier entered Mike's room. Mike then asked, "Problem sergeant?" "An unknown fleet is attacking the Anthrogaunt. The Master Chief has called it Code Red. We need all the help we can get now because of the man leading the fleet.", the Sergeant pleaded. "Who would this man be then?", Torahne asked. "Ryolo, sir.", The Sergeant replied. Soon enough Mike took off with his own guns in hand and approached the bow with Torahne bracing for attack.

(This of course is a long chapter I know and had to break it up into two chapters and with the way my story is going I may spend more time splitting these up into more chapters though. Good news is my story is pretty much at the climax, hard to believe, but yes it actually is. Mike, Vic and Chris' group will fight in two more worlds each (one yet to be mentioned for Victor's group), they'll also fight in the World that Never Was as well and I'll finish up this story by having the 'final battle' in a made up world AKA The Squadron's base of operations. I don't have a name for it yet, but I'll give a hint as to what it's like. It definitely has that depressing mood of The World that Never Was, but it also has that dark eerie effect End of the World has. There still is more to come yet, so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: A Close Victory.)

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	33. Chapter 32

A Close Victory

Torahne summoned his keyblade out, but instead of taking on the Kingdom Key form, it changed into a red-black version of it with a black flaming aura surrounding it. "I still question how you are able to wield one of those Torahne.", Mike answered taking out a couple of his Megablaster guns (essentially similar to the guns from Resistance 2 actually). Torahne replied with a smile, "Makes no sense to me either, but I'll take what I can get. So where are Riku and King Mickey now?" Three fleet ships dropped down towards the grey cement bow and each of the bottom doors opened revealing one rope dropping down from each ship.

A hundred black hooded Squadron members dropped down and Mike charged each of his guns with as much ammo as he could muster. "I was told they are protecting the Port Side and the Starboard side as well. They probably got the same problem we have.", the tall brunette replied. The dark hooded men took out guns as well like Mike's, but smaller. They blasted many shots towards the youths as Torahne deflected the whole lot of them by twirling his keyblade in a circle rapidly at a vertical angle. He then ran forwards and jumped almost ten feet into the air. He dashed down fast, destroying sixty of the Squadron hooded members in a single blow and then grabbed his keyblade with both hands and twirled in a circle this time horizontally and as a result a twister resulted blowing a good forty of them away. Two more fleet ships arrived and dropped down two hundred members each this time.

"Care to join Mike?", Torahne asked. "Sure thing.", Mike replied. Mike blasted each Squadron member one by one as they began to corner Mike and Torahne and then Mike decided he wanted to end this quickly and took out his Sword of Darkness. The air became crisp and with a single slash, he destroyed all five fleet ships and every single Squadron member as well. Torahne gawked at this power as Mike raised his chin to his delicate white skinned face and said, "Come on!! No telling what Ryolo wants with this place. If we can just intercept him before he gets to the control center we can prevent a hostile takeover." Meanwhile, Ryolo and fifty of his best men patrolled the Anthrogaunt and the inside of its floors. Everywhere you could go, the inside of the gigantic ship was like that of the Death Star in every way. Ryolo squared off against a yellow and red officer that looked like that of the Master Chief and with ease knocked them out cold with his chilling stare.

They continued until they got to the second floor. It wouldn't be long afterward to get to the control center after they reached the elevator on the third floor. Riku at this time was pretty beat up, even with his black armoured suit and the copied Sword of Darkness at his whims; he was surrounded by fleet ships and plenty of them. Unfortunately he was getting attacked by Squads Five and Six as well as Four who changed their coordinates to enter from the Starboard Side. Five Squadron members slashed at Riku with their black rapiers and began to cut through the armour towards his rough chest. He then called upon his powers of darkness and blew a quarter of the Squadron members off the ship into space. He then slashed left, right, left, right, and then twirled in mid-air sideways slamming himself through more than half of the army itself. He also gave them quite a scare as they took out their armoured machine guns and opened fire upon the boy. He was getting ripped apart with each passing second.

He then collapsed on the ground, exhausted and out of fight in him. The Squadron managed to break through the Starboard, after a close call with the Bow being lost. Ryolo and his men reached the elevator and slowly waited as it took them to the three hundredth floor, the very place of the control center and also where the most units would be placed for an inspected attack. King Mickey meanwhile was doing okay for himself. He was light on his feet and due to all his experience with the keyblade and the copied Sword of Balance, jumped to and fro slashing at hundreds of troops as Squads Three, Two, and Seven changed directions towards him instead of the Bow. Even more troops arrived with even more men. Mickey thought to himself as he took out two men in a millisecond, 'I can't keep this up forever. For all I know Riku, Torahne and Mike could be waiting for me upstairs near the control center or worse, the Squadron could've already taken control of the Anthrogaunt. If only I could trick them into attacking each other…'

Mickey then lured fifty of the Squadron members to their ships and without knowing what hit them, Mickey dodged as they blasted their own ships with their own weaponry to which they began blasting back at them as well. Mickey landed smoothly as he stood up and walked away from the mess he got himself into. Ryolo soon reached the three hundredth floor. His men reached the control center and blasted each man protecting the Anthrogaunt control center. Ryolo then went first and opened the grey door labeled '1' and low and behold were all the Anthrogaunt's main control buttons for evacuation, attack, defense, etc. The crafty man smiled as he was about to push the red button labeled 'Drop Defense', but his left was blasted by a laser bullet.

Ryolo then growled, "Who dares do such a thing to the head commander of this fleet?" Soon enough he got his answer. Just a couple of feet away from him were Mike and Torahne trampling over his fallen troops. Mickey soon caught up with Mike and Torahne after panting and panting saying, "Riku—hurt…I tried to…help him out…" Torahne gave Mickey a pat on the back as Mike said, "Back away slowly and I won't blow your head off." Ryolo backed up with both of his hands in the air and smiled as he karate kicked the gun out of Mike's hands. Ryolo grabbed Mike and jumped out of the Anthrogaunt's right window breaking glass and ensuing a full scale battle. Mike snapped Ryolo's right hip with his left knee, Ryolo then head butted Mike and punched him square in the face as Mike flipped him over and punched Ryolo four times across his face and sacked him in his groin.

Ryolo kicked Mike five times, to which Mike blocked each shot five times. Mike threw Ryolo lower and lower beneath him and slashed him with his Sword of Darkness across his neck, causing blood to come out. "I thought you guys couldn't bleed. Your only part of existence and can't bleed unless you are completely in existence.", Mike said. Ryolo licked his wounds and upper cutted Mike higher into the air. Ryolo then said sinisterly, "We lost a lot of who we once were, but not our bodies and their physical strengths and weaknesses, which is why I am bleeding now." Mike and Ryolo fell into his Squad ship through the open shaft door and Mike soon smacked Ryolo across the face as the Squadron member elbowed Mike and thrashed him about, punching his gut, kicking his spine, and slashing his face in kind.

Mike then picked the man up and slammed him to the ground and jumped on top of his chest. Mike punched him five times across his face to which blood came out his nose and slammed him against the wall of his ship. "Now then, tell me about these Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness. You guys must know lots about them if you're going to all this trouble to find them.", Mike said. Ryolo laughed as his troops returned to his ship and Ryolo said, "You and what army Michael. You are but a man. I have the Squadron's finest men surrounding my ship who will gladly open fire if necessary to get to me. One more hit or threat and you will face the consequences." Then four loud explosions occurred as four of the ships mysteriously got destroyed. The Master Chief appeared and Held a gun to the man's face. "You gonna talk or do we have to get physical?", The Master Chief inquired.

"Very well then I'll tell you. These Doors of Tranquility and Perfidiousness are very sacred doors as you may have heard. Should a being gain control of them they would have immense power and be able to do whatever one desired. Namely with the Oracle of Destiny we could open these doors, the Oracle's Hand Maidens' we could control its power, the Princesses of Life we could summon Kingdom Hearts (the Heart of all Life – specifically known to have a green hue color), and all of the MVC and their souls to claim back our powers. We recently decided that we had everything we needed because we soon learned of the Destiny Crests' equivalent power to grant us new powers or our old powers as well which is why we don't need your souls now." Mike then said, "Now hold on a sec. We've been told all sorts of stuff about you guys and your intentions here and there. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Ryolo then said, "Believe me or not, but the Elite members, such as myself, would purposely fib to the other former villains and less superior members to keep suspicions low and loyalties at a high so that our cause could be met. Pity though you barely even scratched my fleet at all. We'll return and mark my words boy. You and the MVC shall fall, I'll guarantee it." With that, Mike and the Master Chief got on his private jet (a black 30 meter wingspan triangular jet that runs on plutonium to be exact) and flew back to the Anthrogaunt. Ryolo was shunned as his co officer came in and said, "Squads two through seven have reported minor casualties. What should we do sir?" Ryolo smelt defeat from his bleeding neck and bloody nose as he wiped them off. He looked back to the Anthrogaunt and then he said, "Let's head off to the Anime Planet. We have business to attend to." "What should I report to the Lord, sir?", the officer inquired. Ryolo smiled at the might of the ship as he turned to his officer and said, "Tell him we fought the good fight and got what we needed. Even though it was a Stalemate we still have the blueprints to their ship. Next time we can attack head on and be quick about it." With that the fleets packed up what they could, counted casualties nearing over two hundred thirty thousand and vanished without a trace.

After a brutal three hours of attack from the Squadron, peace returned to the Anthrogaunt as the team regrouped and Riku got his wounds healed by the medic. The Master Chief grabbed his supplies and said, "Well I'm off my friends." "Where to?", Mike asked. "I think I might go round up some survivors and so on and so forth. The Anthrogaunt will need protecting. I spotted Ryolo's co-officer taking down our blue prints and figured as much, they're coming back for a second attack.", The Master Chief said. The group looked to the ground with some disappointment, except for Riku and Mike of course. "However, I took down some of their attack patterns as well. They essentially are like lions picking out the weakest in the group or in this case the weak spots of the ship. My troops will take care of the damages and prep up our defenses for next time. This time our troops are on patrol everywhere around the clock instead of for just twenty two hours a day." They all nodded as Mike opened up a black portal heading towards Sunset Horizons as well. The Master Chief looked to the stars with his 'head in the clouds' and plotted his next offensive against Ryolo and star fleet of ships, should they attack again.

(A great chapter I found. Ryolo mentioned that the Squadron members would lie to other members so as to keep loyalties and yada yada yada. Chris and his group of course are now headed off to Port Royal and of course Spiral Mountain (home of Banjo and Kazooie!!!!), Victor and his group to Gallia (Valkyria Chronicles) and another world as well as Mike and his group to Sunset Horizons and the Eternal Beyond as well (I did use it in the Legend Begins so I shall include it again since they story is called _Kingdom Hearts: The Eternal Beyond_.). There still is a lot more to come as this story progresses so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Life of a Pirate.)

(Review.)


	34. Chapter 33

The Life of a Pirate

Chris and co. entered into the world of Port Royal, but it certainly wasn't around the settlement of Port Royal. They found themselves along a warm sunny beach, and beyond that was acre upon acre of island jungle in the center. They kept walking on the beach until they saw a giant black pirate ship, stranded and abandoned and leaning on its right side. "What do you suppose happened here?", Kairi asked out of curiosity. "Who knows really? I haven't been to this world. Goofy, do you know where we are?", Chris asked. Goofy looked around the island and just gave a shoulder shrug. "I thought you Sora and Donald travelled here before like a year and a half ago.", Chris answered. "Well we never travelled to this kind of an island before. It's definitely not on the map at all. Although this ship does look like the Black Pearl, maybe Jack Sparrow is around somewhere."

Before they all knew it, a youthful man in old nineteenth century brown clothing with white sleeves and a brown vest walked onto shore wet from his ordeal swimming at sea. It was Will Turner, or at least Goofy recognized him. Goofy ran towards Will to which the man said, "Goofy! Aye it's a please to see you. I didn't know you'd be here." Goofy then said, "Likewise. We're here on a bit of an errand if you want to call it actually. This is Chris, he's part of a secret organization known as the MVC so you should keep it pretty quiet when with the fellers. This is Kairi, a girl from the same place Sora comes from, and this is Luigi, a friend of Chris'." Will soon got to know these new faces and explained his story to them bit by bit. Apparently Elizabeth was arrested along with himself for releasing Jack Sparrow from his capture back a year and a half earlier. It would seem that also in order to set them free from prison charges he'd have to find Jack Sparrow as well. Chris then said transforming, "Looks like that'll have to wait." Apparently there were regular Heartless on this island as well being from the KH universe they were more common than the Squadron lackeys.

Kairi transformed into her armoured suit and Goofy called out his shield. Soon enough Goofy did his tornado spin to blow away thirty heartless while Kairi jumped over him and slashed at about twenty five heartless in a single swoop. Even Will took out a sword he took along with him and fought nearly thirty five heartless as well all on his own. Luigi of course being one of the Mario Bros. fired fire balls one after the other at many heartless until they all disappeared quite quickly leaving no trace. Will then said, "Looks like we're getting close to finding Jack and his crew." Chris nodded as they went on into deep jungle encountering a blue and yellow bellied parrot. Will then said, "Aw finally a friendly face." "Don't eat me!!", the parrot said.

Will replied, "I'm not gonna eat you." They kept going as the parrot kept repeating the same line again two more times. They kept searching into the jungle until Will came upon a small black pouch. It was also attached to a small wire that kept going downward into the side of a cliffside. Out of nowhere a native of the island spooked the group and they got trapped by the small ropes they were just following themselves. They were surrounded by natives and one by one they were shot by a tranquilizer dart. Will then said while fighting off a few of the natives, "Come one I could do this all day!" Soon he got shot though and fell unconscious as did his sword to the ground as well.

Before they knew it, they were carried off up a mountain towards small village the natives called home and across a bridge to a man wearing a black vest and white shirt with the typical pirate pants and yellow like boots. He was also wearing one of the native's special hats symbolizing his importance as the chief of the area. Will then said while laughing a bit, "Jack Sparrow…I can honestly say I'm happy to see you!!" Kairi was a little turned off at the fact he also had eyeballs painted on his eye lids and his face as well thinking, 'That's Jack Sparrow that Sora was talking about? He seems more like a rundown native chief to me.' Jack Sparrow stepped up and walked towards our captured group. Jack just tapped Will and walked off as Will said, "Jack…it's me Will Turner." 'Maya Capto.', Jack responded. He kept saying more of the native's language to which Luigi whispered to Chris, "What are they saying?" "How should I know? I can't speak native Caribbean dialects.", Chris responded.

Will again pleaded with Jack hoping he'd let him down along with the group, but there was no dice as Jack Sparrow was continuing to speak his dialect once more. Will then said looking to his pocket, "The compass, that's all I need! Elizabeth is in danger. We were arrested for trying to help you! She faces the gallows!" Jack spoke once more to native friends and then said, "Maliki Liki!!" to which the others did so and carried off our heroes pleading to let them go and to help Elizabeth. Later the group now held in wooden cages hanging over cliffs, were both starving and tired from heat exhaustion. Will asked one of Jack's fellow crewmates, "Why would he do this to us if Jack is the chief?"" "Aye, but the Pelecost got the Chief. He only remains the chief if he acts like the chief.", the crewmate responded. Will then said, "So then he's got no choice like the rest of us, he's the captain." "He's got his own problems though. See the Pelecost doesn't think Jack is a god in his human form so they're doing the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison.", the crewmate answered. Goofy and Luigi gulped at this suggestion and Kairi couldn't help but gasp at this. "That's horrible!!", the poor disgusted girl exclaimed. The crewmate shrugged and continued. "They'll roast him and eat him." Chris then asked, "So where's the rest of the crew then?" "These cages we're in weren't built till after we got here. The feast is about to begin, and Jack's life will end when the drops stop.", the crewmate said.

Will responded anxiously, "Well we can't just wait then can we?" Before they all knew it, they raised their weight to the left to grab some vines of the grassy cliffs to their right, but just narrowly missed the first time they did it. The second time they did it, they grabbed a few vines, but they broke off to quickly though and once again were back at square one. Finally though, they managed to grab onto a few good strong vines and started to climb the rickety cliffside. Will said, "Come on men, it'll take all of us to draw the Black Pearl!!" One Indian pirate in red clothing then said, "Actually not all of us!! It's 6"2." After a quiet pause he then said, "Oh dear!!" Soon enough it became a race to the top as Will said, "Hurry!!" to which they climbed even more towards the top. On a bridge just a few miles from the cliffside they were on was a native guard on his post walking by and they all started to keep quiet and still for a brief moment. The Indian pirate grabbed a coral snake by accident and after dropping it and causing their cage to drop to its watery grave as well. This caught the attention of the native and soon enough Chris yelled, "Climb!!" to which everyone just darted upwards. Soon enough they got to the top and Will Turner said looking around the thick underbrush, "Cut it loose!! Find a rock!!"

The whole band of natives caught up to them and Will shouted to the top of his lungs, "Roll the cage!!" they rolled and rolled through jungle until they found themselves at a steep slope and kept falling and falling down thick brush forest towards the beach. They got trapped by a palm tree and as the natives closed in Will said, "Lift the cage!!" Soon everyone grabbed it as quick as they could and kept running and running the clear grassy fields towards the Black Pearl, but ended up falling through a large crevasse slamming onto rocks and shattering the cage in half. They pushed aside debris and one of the crewmates said, "This way lads!!" The natives kept firing darts at them and throwing their spears to slow them up, but they kept swimming and swimming for their lives. They ended up back to where the Black Pearl was first found and ended up having to raise the anchor and lift up the mooring line. As they began to lift ropes, Will asked, "What about Jack? I won't leave without Jack!!" They soon spotted Jack in the distance with a bunch of angry natives following in hot pursuit after him and the crew rushed to get the ship's lines back up and ready. Jack boarded the ship with all the natives disappointed at not catching him and then Jack said before they cast off, "Alas my children, but you will always remember this day as the day you almost caught…" and got splashed by a tidal wave "…Captain Jack Sparrow." Then he just climbed back up quickly as he could.

Jack Sparrow's right hand crew mate then said upon him getting on board, "Let's some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea!!" Luigi lifted a thumb up that with his green hat torn down the back and everyone else exhausted and either brutalized or just plain hungry. Jack then said, "Yes to first, yes to the second, but only as far as we keep to the shallows as much as possible." Before they knew it a monkey climbing the ships mast dropped an eyeball to which a crude looking crewmate grabbed it and ran off and then Will came by asking of Elizabeth Turner. "Well keep a better eye on her, keep her locked up.", Jack said. "She's locked up bound to hang for you.", Will responded. "There comes a time when one leaves their responsibilities and past mistakes."

Chris then summoned his Sword of Balance and threatened Jack at his neck and Will said, "I need that compass Jack. I must trade it for her freedom." Then Jack flailed the sword away and called for Mr. Gibbs, his fat right hand crew mate in the black vest and white shirt with soaked brown pants. "We have a need to travel up river.", Jack said. "What we need to do is sail to Port Royal at full haste.", Will responded. Jack then asked, "Now before I get to any other requests, who might the young lass and these other characters be? I know that one is Goofy, but what of the other three?" Soon enough Chris introduced himself as did Kairi and Luigi and Chris then explained his purpose in Port Royal and the fact he is a member of the MVC. "Now the point is we believe that the Squadron must be here and they probably have control over the Heartless as well which makes them more lethal." Jack nodded at this point. "Now then, William I will trade you this compass if you all help me to find this.", he responded taking out a map of a sort, but not just any map. It was in fact a map of a special key.

Will asked, "You want me to find this?" "No you want you to find this, because only the finding finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating, discovering, detecting a way to save your dolly… o what's-her-face. Savvy?", Jack responded. Goofy soon explained after that awkward conversation that Savvy meant is 'are we clear?' in pirate language. Then Chris grabbed the map and asked, "This is going to save us?" Then Jack asked Will, "How much do you know about Davy Jones?" Will just responded quickly, "Not much." Then the crew raised their masts and set a course for Port Royal. Chris smelt the air and just couldn't stand that sea salt air. Luigi asked Chris if he was okay. "I don't know how anyone could stand this kind of a life. It's just like swimming in a tub full of this stuff all day and all night, blech!!", the boy responded. Kairi then asked, "So what's our next plan then?" "First we head to Port Royal and get Elizabeth free as soon as possible. Second we find out where the Squadron is based and blow them to bits. The sooner we claim this world for the MVC the better. Mike will want use of these ships here to cross the endless sea of the Universe. If we just transport in our portals they'll just catch us easier that way. They'll suspect us using nineteenth century ships."

(That'll do it for this chapter. So as we can see, I decided to do Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and it felt it would be perfect for this story since ports were always useful in winning wars out at sea as much as castles were back on European soil. This will likely be a two chapter part, maybe three depending how much of the movie I can get into as well. More to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Travelling at Sea.)

(Review.)


	35. Chapter 34

Travelling at Sea

Many hours later, our heroes and the crew of the Black Pearl travelled up stream through clear shallow waters inside more dense jungles in a different island. In one rowboat, was a few men with Luigi and Goofy among them, one with just Chris and Kairi, one with Jack Sparrow , a parrot and another crewmate one other Will Turner and Mr. Gibbs and a few other men. Will Turner asked Mr. Gibbs, "Why is Jack so afraid of the open ocean?" "Well he believes such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A giant fish with suction cups that could suck your face clean off and drag an entire ship down into the endless darkness, the Kraken.", Mr. Gibbs replied. "You see the stench of its breath is so ufff and affff. Imagine the last thing you hear of God's green earth is the roar and smell the odor of a thousand rotting corpses." Eventually Will asked as to why they would just spare him and Jack once asked that heading straight to _her._

"Her?", Will asked. "Aye", Mr. Gibbs responded. Hours passed by once more and it started to get dark and soon enough after travelling so far upstream came across a wooden set of stilt-water-houses (my word for those Micronesian houses built above water) Jack spotted a Skeleton with its clothes and its hat still intact in a tree to his right. The area was just plain spooky enough as it was. Kairi then said to Chris, "I got a bad feeling about this." "It's all part of the job Kairi. We got to do our part otherwise the Squadron could gain a foothold on us and we wouldn't even know it. We're lucky enough Victor's diverting the whole fleet from my front and Mike's front so we got a good chance and taking these worlds undetected. The only thing we need now is their base of operations and this world is ours."

They approached the docks past the thicket of jungle and trees and Jack said turning to his beloved crew, "No worries mates! Tia Dalma and I go way back as thieves and all inseparable we are." Mr. Gibbs replied to Jack Sparrow as he headed up a rickety ladder, "We got your back." "It's me front I'm worried about.", Jack replied. One by one as they all headed up the ladder, from Will down to Kairi and the man with the parrot who talked for him, each said, "Mind the boat.", leaving the old geezer to sit back and relax in the crisp clean air. They entered inside Tia Dalma's house, which of course as seen from the inside and outside, was broken down; junk filled the room, and had a spooky aura to add to its mysterious ways. Jack was the first to go in as he spotted a black woman attending to her nails rose up and said his name kindly. Jack Sparrow said her name in kind almost walking straight into one of her hanging glass jugs from the ceiling.

She pointed and looked to Will Turner and said, "You…you have untold destiny about you…" As Turner got close to the woman and she looked into his eyes and said, "William Turner." Will asked her if she knew him and Jack suspecting something amiss barged in between them and said, "There be not knowing him. We've come for Hilton and we're not leaving without it." They were gathered around her table of junk and other precious valuables to which she said to Jack, "You know I demand payment." "A raw payment.", Jack said as he whistled for Mr. Gibbs and as he pulled a cloth from overtop a cage. In the cage was a monkey in green clothing and he took out his gun as he said whilst pulling the trigger, "Look…an undead monkey." She opened the cage much to the dismay of Mr. Gibbs and sighing of Chris and Luigi wishing they were somewhere else. "The payment is here.", Tia said. Then Will said taking out the map of a key, "We're looking for this…" Tia Dalma looked upon with great surprise. "…and what it goes to.", Will continued. Jack was then taunted about whether or not he actually went to look for it and after a classic inside joke from Tia, from whom Kairi just rolled her right index finger around her right ear, she continued on. "The key opens a chest and inside that chest, is what you seek." Mr. Gibbs asked, "What is inside?" One man asked if it was gold, then jewels, and then unclaimed property of valued nature.

The pirate with the long mustache and messy hair and a loose eyeball then said, "Nothing bad I hope." She talked of Davy Jones and how he fell in love with a woman. She talked about how he never stopped loving her. Yet he felt pain from her apparently and it was from her account, too much to endure. Will asked, "What did he put inside the chest?" "Him Heart.", Tia said. There was skepticism from the crewmates with it was literal or just metaphorical, but Tia reassured it was literal though. She then said, "He carved out him and heart and locked it in the chest and hid it away from the world." Will arose from the chair he sat in and asked Jack if he knew about this. "I did not, I did not know about this and now we do. So all we got to do is go aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key and get back to Port Royal to save your bonnie lass.", the man replied as he headed towards the door.

Tia asked, "Let me see your hand." Jack, hesitant at first obliged and showed the woman his left hand. It revealed under bandages on his palm a black marking to which Mr. Gibbs panicked and said, "Ohhh…the black spot!!" Tia then went to her private cabinet and grabbed a jar of dirt as she said, "Land is where you are safe." She handed it to Jack as he said, "Dirt…this is a jar of dirt." "Yes.", the woman replied. "Is the jar of dirt going to help?", Kairi asked. Tia then said with a bit of cheekiness, "If you don't want it, give it back." Jack of course just took it as is and quit his complaining as Will said, "It seems we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman." Tia rolled some old bones as she tossed them on the table and said, "The Torch of Destiny!!" Before they left, Kairi asked Chris, "Do you have any idea where the Squadron base of operations is?" Chris nodded and then said, "Actually, I have a pretty good idea."

Hours passed by as they headed out to sea to a shipwrecked boat. Rain poured everywhere from the sky, blocking all vision of the jagged rocks and peaks popping out from the violent ocean below. Will turned to his crew as he said skeptically, "That's the Flying Dutchman!!" With a few nods he turned back to the ship and said, "Doesn't look like much." Chris then said in lieu of Jack Sparrow, "Neither do you mate. Don't underestimate her. If I've done my homework as well, when we find Davy Jones, we'll find the Squadron base of operations." Jack then asked Will if he had a plan. So then of course Will then said, "I'll row over and climb aboard until I find your bloody key." "And if there a crew with them?", Jack asked. "I cut down anyone in my path.", Will responded. Jack then said with odd timing, "I like him. He's simple and easy to remember."

The pirate with the loose eye came from the rowboat below the ship and said, "Your chariot awaits." Chris then took hold of Luigi as he left and said to him, "Should I not make it back you are in charge. Get to the Squadron as soon as possible and find the keyhole for this world. Kairi is the only with any capability of locking it. Do you understand me?" Luigi nodded and said saluting, "Be careful Chris. The Mushroom Kingdom depends on you." Chris nodded and headed on his way with Will Turner and Goofy. As they headed down the ladder they were held up in some short conversation with Jack as he said, "Aye if you do get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt. It might save your life." Chris shook his head at this and just thought, 'Let's just get going.'

So with nothing but the oars of the rowboat, Will Turner and Goofy as his aids and a nineteenth century candle light torch to light the way, they made it over to the partially sliced up shipwreck of the Flying Dutchman. As they made it aboard the shipwreck, Goofy whispered, "Gawrsh, it sure is dark and spooky around here. The rain doesn't make it any better either." Chris shushed Goofy as he said, "We've made it this far without any trouble. Let's keep it that way." Goofy said, "Gawrsh sorry fellers." As they began their search on the ship, Will saw a soaked cold and delirious man pulling on the mast vigorously during the storm and walked towards him hinting to Chris and Goofy to come follow him as well. Will said, "Sailor!!" The man just spouted nonsense and kept going "Sir you'll just run aground." "No, beneath us…foul breath!!", said the man. Goofy gulped at this and said, "I don't like that sound of that." Chris shook his head in agreement and took out his Sword of Balance. Goofy and Will noticed a man washed up on the broken, wooden soggy deck of the ship and they both ran to rescue and apprehend him.

As Will turned him over, he saw a weird fish like face on him which made him jolt abit along with Goofy. An unknown ship from the seas approached them and Chris said, "Just as I thought. They weren't on this ship at all. They were underneath us waiting and plotting." Aboard came a metallic being that looked an awful lot like Frieza from the murky depths of the sea. "So the Sword of Balance is here. Just as the silver hooded man said, I have been delivered to great destiny after all." Chris then asked, "What are you talking about?" "I, the great Xelxia was created from a piece of Frieza's DNA and was mysteriously left in space to freeze until I was needed to extract the Dragonballs. However by the time I was awoken, the people that made me had disappeared forever and I was alone to think and think until a man named Eailox came and told me about Aragon to where I could figure out my past since I had amnesia in the first place. I was told to find my place, I had to destroy the MVC.", Xelxia said. "You don't have to do this.", Chris said in disbelief. Xelxia said, "Alas I have no choice. Fight me now, or surrender willingly." As Chris was ready to about take on his challenge, Goofy intervened along with Will and fought to their hearts content against Xelxia. The being punched both Goofy and Will at once and dashed for Chris, but he was too smart.

Chris sliced the being in half with no sweat and turned him into confetti. "Pathetic. If that's the best they have, I'm not worried at all." Before long, fish-like men came from beneath the sea and attempted grab them hostage. Will slashed at five men and soaked his sword in oil and light it in his candle and told them to stay back. Meanwhile Chris saw the keyhole in the sky and locked the world of Port Royal for good. The Squadron lost their foothold on this world. However they had bigger 'fish' to fry. Will told Chris, "Go now. I got this." "But Will we won't leave you.", Goofy said. "Just go!! You're our last line of defense, both of you get out now!!" with that Chris entered a brown portal leading to the Black Pearl with Goofy and it shut behind them as quick as possible, leaving Will to his fate of capture.

They arrived back at the ship to which Jack Sparrow was taking a peek through his spyglass, but of course too little too late as the ship was overrun by Davy Jones and his crew. Everyone was captured except Chris and Jack Sparrow who stood by each other while Davy Jones approached Jack. "You have a debt to pay. You've been captain of the Black Pearl for 13 years. That was our agreement.", Davy Jones said. "Technically I was only captain for two years and then I was viciously mutinied upon.", Jack replied. "Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless.", Davy Jones replied. As he walked behind Jack he said, "Have you not introduced yourself as Captain Jack Sparrow?", Davy Jones asked with his crew laughing behind him. "There's already a servant soul back on that ship.", Jack said.

"One soul is not equal to another.", Davy Jones insisted. "Ah so I establish my proposal for principle and now we're just dangling another price." Davy Jones paused a moment and replied skeptically, "Price?" With another pause yet, Jack asked, "Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?" Kairi gulped at this suspense as she wished Sora was here to help them at this moment. Davy Jones then said, "One Hundred Souls!! …Three days." "You're a diamond mate!! Send me back the boy and I'll get started on it right away…", Jack said as he turned around toward the starboard side. Then Davy Jones Hammerhead right hand man approached him and Chris as Davy Jones said, "I keep the boy as a good faith payment. That only leaves ninety nine more to go." They kept on laughing after that just to sweeten the deal even more. Chris then asked, "Have you not met Will Turner? He's noble, heroic, riffed soprano, worth at least four maybe three and a half." Kairi yelled to the top of her lungs biting her captor's hands, "How could you do this to Will you backstabbing Jerk!!!"

"Keep her quiet you goons!!", Davy Jones yelled. Jack then continued, as he turned around Davy Jones and circled him "…And did I happen to mention he's in love. Leave her go, choose to be marry, betrothed. Dividing him from her and her from him, would only be half as cruel as allowing them to be in holy matrimony." Davy Jones agreed as he said, "Aye. I keep the boy ninety nine souls. But I wonder Jack Sparrow, can you live with this? Can you condemn an innocent man, a friend to lifetime of solitude and your name while you roam free?" Jack took a moment to think as he said, "Yep I'm good with it." Kairi punched the fish in the gut and dashed to Jack Sparrow, but was caught before she could get a hit on him. "You traitor!!", the girl yelled. "After everything he's done for you, you're just okay with this?" Jack nodded and said, "Aye bonnie lass, I am."

Davy Jones then told them to put Goofy and the girl near the bow where they couldn't cause more trouble. Jack continued again, "So we're sealed in blood…er ink?" Davy Jones grabbed his left hand to where the spot is and said before lifting his tentacle away, "Three days!!" The sea fish crew left and soon enough when Jack looked to his hand saw his black spot was gone. Chris then asked after a quick pause, "Well that's fine and dandy, but now do you got any ideas as to where to get these ninety nine souls in three days?" Jack Sparrow then of course said wiping his filth on Chris' transformed armoured suit and said, "Portruga."

After some rough housing back in Portruga, they finally got a substantial amount of people to join their 'cause' and a woman dressed in a shipmates' clothing approached Jack and asked him, "Captain Sparrow?" "Come to join me crew lad, welcome aboard.", Jack said. "I'm here to find the man I love.", the shipmate woman said. Jack paused a moment and replied, "I'm deeply flattered, but love first and foremost is the sea." Jack implied to Mr. Gibbs to have her thrown out to the curb. "I mean William Turner, Jack Sparrow.", the woman said. "Elizabeth!", Jack said as he turned around and recognized the voice. He then turned to Mr. Gibbs and said "Buy the rum." And then Jack turned around to face Elizabeth as she said, "Jack I know Will came to find you. Where is he?" Jack then said, "Darling I am truly unhappy to tell you this, but through an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable circumstances that have nothing to do with me, poor Will has been press gagged onto Davy Jones' Crew." Elizabeth asked, "Davy Jones?" Kairi threw a bucket at him to which he turned to her Kairi waved a fist at him. Jack waved her off and said, "She's a new cabin boy or should I say cabin girl."

"Jack. All I want to do is find Will.", Elizabeth said. "Are you certain? Is that what you really want the most now?", Jack asked. "Of course.", she implied. "Because I would think you would want to find a way to save Will by a cost.", Jack said. "And you have a way of doing that?", Elizabeth asked. After a slight explanation about Davy Jones and his chest, she took hold of Jack's compass, supposedly leading towards the chest of Davy Jones to the North East and Jack said overseeing the compass, "Mr. Gibbs." "Captain.", Mr. Gibbs said. "Cast off.", Jack said once more. "Cast off those lines and betrow the campus!!", Mr. Gibbs ordered the crew. With that they boarded and Chris and Kairi got to know Elizabeth Swan along with Luigi.

After telling them their intent in all this, Chris then concluded, "So now we're all here to help you guys take care of Davy Jones and the Kraken." Elizabeth gasped at Chris' story to which she said, "I cannot believe there's someone even more powerful than the Heartless storming from world after world." Chris shrugged his shoulders as the Black Pearl lifted off and headed out to sea, saying goodbye to the port of Portruga and off towards the open ocean.

(As you can plainly see, I did give that made up character of mine, Xelxia, from the beginning a bit of a choppy ending, but of course to be fair; he was recently made before and was not prepared for the power of the MVC and their weapons at all. I also made Kairi get ticked off for obvious reasons concerning Will Turner and how he was backstabbed of course in the movie. It was only fair since it would make sense if Sora was there to witness that. There is still more to come with the grand finale fight of Jack vs. the Kraken and Chris vs. Davy Jones!!! So stay tuned.)

(Next Time: A Date with a Kraken/The MVC vs. Davy Jones)

(Review.)


	36. Chapter 35

A Date with a Kraken/The MVC vs. Davy Jones

The heat of the day was the one thing that was the least of the group's troubles thus far. Aside from travelling for days across a large portion of sea and ocean, Luigi, Kairi and Goofy were hard at work cleaning the deck and doing other chores on board whilst Chris and Jack Sparrow discussed about dealing Davy Jones directly. "My boy, that is one tough enemy you shouldn't dare cross with. He's the master of the seas and an ultimate foe indeed. Even if you're powers are formidable, there's no guarantee of victory.", Jack responded. Chris shook his head and replied, "Yet this isn't your decision to make now is it? I was sent here for one mission only and that one has already been finished. Another side mission I was given was to get information from any men/women working with the Squadron. Methinks Davy Jones is knee deep in this situation more than he let on before. One way or another Jack, I'm going to find out." Soon getting back to business Elizabeth called Jack and Chris together along with Mr. Gibbs and Chris's group soon followed them afterwards. "Will was working for Beckett and never said a word.", Mr. Gibbs said. He then continued, "Beckett wants the compass. Only one reason for that." "Of course. He wants the chest.", Jack said. "Yes he did say something about a chest.", Elizabeth said. "If the company controls the chest, they control the seas.", Mr. Gibbs proclaimed. "A truly discomforting notion love.", Jack said. "Bad, bad for every mother son who calls himself 'pirate'."Mr. Gibbs said. Mr. Gibbs soon returned to his post and Jack then asked Elizabeth, "Might I inquire as to how you came about to all this?" "Persuasion.", she responded.

While this conversation was occurring, Chris rounded up his group and then began to tell them his plan of attack. "Obviously we got to hit Davy Jones where it hurts and surround him on all corners, but I've decided to go about this another way instead of attacking his crew directly.", Chris said. "Really? So what will you do then?", Kairi asked. "I will challenge Davy Jones himself to a one on one duel. While that goes on, you guys have to is protect the ship and the crew for as long as you can. The Kraken's out there I can feel it. I also know this. I can't guarantee I'll beat Davy Jones, but I will at least keep him at bay.", the boy replied. "What about the Kraken? That thing's got to be gigantic. There's no way we'd survive a fight against that thing.", Goofy said. Chris nodded and then gave Goofy an attachable device. "It's an electric charger. It has capabilities beyond anything anyone has used for technology on my planet and could electrocute a thousand men in a single shock. If anything it should work for this thing as well. All I have to do is push this button here…" Chris held out a tiny grey remote with a single red button labeled 'PUSH'. "…and all you have to do is somehow get it inside the beast's belly." Goofy gulped as he heard this as did the rest of his group to which Chris said, "We don't have much of a choice now people. Let's move it. I got a fight to win." With that Chris opened a brown portal to the Flying Dutchman and off he went to face Davy Jones.

A few minutes later, before anyone on the Flying Dutchman knew what hit them, Chris soon found himself aboard their ship, unbeknownst to both that Will Turner also climbed aboard after a rough run in with the Kraken. "So lad, I see Jack Sparrow is too cowardly to face me himself is he?", Davy Jones said. Chris transformed into his armoured self as he said, "Who do you think told me about your ship, your tricks, and your heart?", Chris asked. "Jack Sparrow.", Davy Jones said. Chris drew out his Sword of Balance and then said, "I'll keep the pleasantries short. Here's the deal, I want a one on one fight. You and me no help, no outside interference at all. I know you got a weakness and I intend to find it." Davy Jones laughed as did the rest of his crew as he said, "You must be more clueless than y'look lad. I control the seas with an iron fist. I am a talented Captain and a fine swordsman. What chance do ye and y'er sword have against the likes of me?", Davy Jones asked. "Duty, that's what I got. I am a member of the MVC. You'll be branded a coward if you back out now mister.", Chris replied. The crew said 'ooooo' quietly as Davy Jones told them to shut up. Soon enough he drew his sword and said, "Alright son. You got y'erself a match. But be warned, my backhand is a killer."

Soon enough Chris and Davy Jones clashed swords with each other, sparks flying everywhere. Meanwhile, back on the Black Pearl, Jack noticed Elizabeth troubled over her situation and how she should have been married right now, and said, "You know I am a Captain on this ship and as a Captain of this ship, I could perform a 'mar-iage' right here, right on this deck, right now." Elizabeth turned off at this gesture threw her bottle of Pirate's Rum at him and said, "No thank you." Kairi and the others shook their heads at this situation and Goofy said, "Looks like Jack struck out." "No kidding.", Kairi replied. Jack not giving up asked, "Why not? We are very much alike and I find you a sport." "Except for a sense of honour, decency and an immoral center and personal hygiene.", Elizabeth continued. The group shook their heads once again. "I'm trifled. You will come over to my side, I know it.", the pirate continued. "You seem very certain.", Elizabeth continued. "One word love: curiosity. You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want to. To act on sufficient pulse. You want to see what it's like. One day you won't be able to resist.", Jack said. Kairi then asked interrupting, "Why doesn't your compass work?" "It works just fine.", Jack said troubled. After a brief conversation on morals and Jack's good side, Elizabeth continued, "I have faith in you, and do you know why?" "No, please enlighten me.", Jack said. Then Elizabeth said in a sly way, "Curiosity. You're going to want it, a chance to be admired and gain rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist. You're going to want to know what it tastes like." "I do want to know what it tastes like.", Jack responded. Yet even afterwards, before he could smooch Elizabeth, his black spot on his hand appeared, reminding him of Davy Jones' prescence.

Kairi and the others decided it would be best to remain on the ship, since Chris gave them that job and would stick with it while Jack and the others went ashore on Isla Cruces in search for the Dead Man's chest and Davy Jones heart. Back on the Flying Dutchman however, Chris was still caught up in his fight with Davy Jones. They flung their swords back and forth at each other in a repeating pattern: two front lances, an evenly matched clash in the center, a backflip from both of them and their forceful acrobatics and then a hard smack at the tips of their swords. As they clashed again for the tenth time in a row, Davy Jones said to his foe, "Very impressive young man. I got to say, for a young child such as y'erself I got a lot of respect for ye." Chris turned towards the bow as Davy Jones did to the Stern and said, "Funny, for a man who controls and literally _is _the 'sea', you're pretty slow at this." "I'm just getting warmed up. Now watch as we take this fight to the moon. Now then fellas, while I take care of business, you chart a course for Isla Cruces. No doubt Jack will be there as well." The crew agreed as they returned to their posts, only a few members remained to watch the fight at Davy Jones behalf. The fight continued for about a couple of hours like this.

Chris then whacked at Davy Jones four times, left right left right. Then Davy Jones threw the boy into mid-air and kicked him higher and then sliced a large scratch across his tough brown armour. Then he grabbed the poor boy and slammed him hard onto the deck and landed on the ground without a scratch. Chris stood up slowly while lagging to his left side and Davy Jones clashed at his sword quickly. "You got to be quicker than that lad if you hope to beat the likes of me now.", Davy Jones said. Chris slashed at the man time and time again, but to no avail. Davy Jones was always a step ahead of him this time. With a single blow to Chris' stomach, the boy fell and Davy Jones flung his sword towards him as a sign of defeat. "One more?", the sea dog asked. Chris got up and nodded in agreement. He then clashed with Davy Jones once more.

Davy Jones smacked Chris across the face with his sword slicing open his left cheek and then made another large scratch across his armour. It wouldn't be long before his chest would be exposed for attack. Chris had to do something and fast. Then as they arrived on Isla Cruces, they began to head underwater. "I hope you can breathe as well as you fight boy.", Davy Jones said. "Not a worry. My armour can also transform in any environment as well, in air, in land and in sea.", Chris said. "Interesting. Once I kill you, I shall take that suit as my own and escape this world then. I'm curious as to what other sorts of powers are beyond Port Royal and this island now.", Davy Jones replied. Chris slashed at Davy Jones five straight times and sliced his chest, causing some dismay amongst the audience of his crew members. "Sadly, you won't live long to find out.", Chris replied.

Then Chris engaged Davy Jones once more, this time at the center of his ship. He slashed and hacked, left right left right left right again. Then with a single clash, kicked Davy Jones to the flow and pierced the spot where his heart would be. Davy Jones laughed at this gesture as he said, "Foolish boy. I don't have anything there but a hollow space. What good'll that do ya?" Chris smiled as he said, "I wasn't aiming for your chest." With a single slash his sword was stripped from his bare hands and Davy Jones was out bested by the youngest of the MVC members. "Very good boy, however that was only round one and round two. We got one round a piece and that's not all. We still have a third round yet. Then we'll see who's the better of the two on this ship.", Davy Jones replied. So once again, Davy Jones and Chris had at it once more. Chris slashed Davy Jones near the tip of his sword and back shuffled this time and then while standing on his hands clashed with Davy Jones holding his sword with his feet to put on a real show. He walked forwards three times while clashing each time, defended as Davy Jones pushed down hard with his sword and he said, "Fancy fightin' lad, but it won't help you." Chris then thought to himself, 'That's what you think there buddy.' Then before Davy Jones knew it, Chris slashed his chest again and threw him into the air. Then with his swift agility slashed the brutish captain ten times and slammed him to the ground. Then Chris held Davy Jones' own sword at him as a sign of defeat and thus won this fight against him.

As he left into his brown portal, Davy Jones asked, "What's the matter? Afraid I can't die. Once my chest is brought to me, I'll hunt ya to the far reaches of this world just like I did with Jack Sparrow." Chris shook his head as he said, "I got all I needed from this fight. Consider this a good break for you. I won't kill, but I could easily do it, with or without your heart inside you. Next time, you won't be so lucky." Chris then left Davy Jones baffled and confused as his loyal crew returned and they arose from the sea to the Black Pearl. As Chris returned, Jack Sparrow said to Mr. Gibbs with Kairi, Luigi, Goofy, Elizabeth and Will behind him, "I'll handle this one mates." Then Jack held out a jar of sand and said to Davy Jones and his fishy crew, "Hey fish mates. Lose something. Hey did ya really…" Then Jack tripped over the stairs of his ship to the center of his ship. After a brief silence Jack raised the jar above him and said, "Got it. Come to negotiate ya slimy git. Look what I got. I got a jar of dirt. I got a jar of dirt and guess what's inside of it." Davy Jones then said, "Enough." To which he turned around and ordered his crew to open the shafts with the canons inside on the Portside of his ship. As this occurred the crew began tough orders to turn the Black Pearl to the far end of Starboard side. As this occurred Davy Jones too ordered a slight turnaround to the Starboard side and they began blasting away at the Black Pearl with every canon shot. Davy Jones said confidently on ship, "Let 'em have a taste of the 'Triple Canons'." To which a crewmate of his said, "Aye Captain."

The Black Pearl was bombarded by three swift blasts from the Bow of the Flying Dutchman. Chris then told Kairi to transform into her armoured suit and as she did so told her to aim her sword into the sky and chant, "Moe Dom Bashoe" three times. Thus a purple barrier appeared around their ship deflecting shots by the Flying Dutchman and the crew cheered as this happened. Kairi then asked Chris, "What does 'Moe Dom Bashoe' mean?" "It's Sanshobian for 'My Safety from the Heavens' actually. Victor told me that chant a while back just in case of an emergency. Now the only thing left to worry is…" Davy Jones noticed the barrier and said, "So it's a war that this 'MVC' wants. Well it's a war they'll get. Release the Kraken." The crewmates then replied as they turned an odd wooden crank, "Aye captain." Then before they all knew the monster himself appeared surrounding the Black Pearl. Chris gathered everyone together as he said, "Gentlemen, prepare yourselves. We got ourselves a fight of the century."

The first of the tentacles appeared to which Goofy and Kairi teamed up against and sliced through easily, but those were only two of its vicious tentacles though. The crew threw as much as they could at the beast, but it was way too powerful. Luigi then said to Chris, "Let me handle this. I know I can do this." Chris shook his head as he said, "Forget it Luigi, you'll die. I won't take that chance." Luigi then said, "I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for Mario, for the world, Kairi, you." Chris sighed at this and got Goofy to give Luigi the electric device. Chris then explained to Kairi and Goofy that they would distract the beast while Luigi would toss the device into the monster's belly and hope for a miracle. Even as the plan got underway, crewmates were getting tossed about the monster's sheer power and even Kairi and Goofy were getting slammed by the monster's tenacity. Chris then stabbed the beast in its left eye, blinding it as he yelled, "Come on! You know you want me!!" He then ran across the deck and the beast followed him as well as Jack Sparrow who was also preoccupied with the beast as well. He shot a bullet straight into a bunch of barrels carrying gun powder and blasted away a couple more of the beast's tentacles.

The crew questioned about whether to abandon the Black Pearl and go to land or stay and fight. Either situation involved them getting into some danger, but they ultimately decided to head for land and abandon the Black Pearl. As the crew headed off to a single lifeboat Jack tried to use to make a cowardly escape, He had a moment to think about what he was going to do and Elizabeth said, "Thank you Jack." "We're not free yet love.", Jack said. "You came back. I always knew you were a good man." Even as Elizabeth smooched Jack, Chris in some odd way saw a bit of his parents to which he thought, 'Why now? Why would I think of Mom and Dad now? Something's not right.' Yet with no time to waste and headed down the ship, Luigi meanwhile stayed with Jack to fulfill his destiny. Soon enough, Goofy, Kairi and Mr. Gibbs were on the lifeboat as well. Jack was chained up to the mast of the Black Pearl and Luigi was too. "Oh well, better this than the Captain's quarters eh mate?", Jack asked. Luigi nodded and soon awaited the finishing blow from the Kraken. Soon enough, they struggled to set their hands free from the chains and as they both did so, they noticed the Kraken was right there and roared towards them with its spit flying everywhere and saliva covering the ship. The monster approached Jack with its mouth wide open ready to swallow him up as Luigi threw in his device and meanwhile, the crew of the Black Pearl escaped, and even Chris, Kairi and Goofy escaped as well, not knowing what became of Jack or Luigi at all.

They escaped out at sea and with a large explosion, the Kraken died, but the ship capsized as well. It didn't look good and seemed as though Jack and Luigi were gone. But from the very depths Luigi appeared on wreckage of the ship near the wreckage Chris and others used to stay afloat and Luigi was alive, but just barely. The same could not be said so for Jack. His life was claimed by the sea. They soon returned to Tia Dalma, exhausted, cold and befuddled. "What a day. Luigi was lucky enough to have destroyed that monster. I'm surprised you survived at all.", Chris said. Luigi said, "Jack tossed me overboard at the last second before the device went off. I should have stayed instead of him. Then none of this would have happened." "Nah, I should have been more helpful to you guys and went to Isla Cruces with ya, then maybe we could have ended this a long time ago with Davy Jones' Heart.", Goofy said. Outside were people holding candles in the shallow swampy depths of Tia Dalma's home as a sign of Jack Sparrow's passing. Tia Dalma offered drinks to everyone to ease against the cold night and their pain of Jack's loss, though even that would not do much good.

"Doesn't matter now, the Pearl's gone along with its captain.", Will said. "Aye, and already the world seems a little less bright.", Mr. Gibbs said. "Fooled us all right to the end, but I guess that honest streak finally went out. To Jack Sparrow.", Mr. Gibbs continued. Kairi and Goofy replied, as did the rest of the former crew, Elizabeth, Will and then finally Chris, "To Jack Sparrow!" Will noticed Elizabeth grieving and said, "If there was any way to bring him back Elizabeth…" Before the group could say anything they soon made their leave quietly before Tia Dalma could make her famous speech, and as they left via a brown portal and it closed, a black portal opened and Mike, Torahne, Mickey and Riku appeared just in time for Tia Dalma's speech. "Would you do it?" the black witchdoctor asked. "Well would you? What would any of you be willing to do? Would you sail the far ends of the earth to withdraw Jack back and his precious Pearl?" The entire crew said, "Aye!" as did Mike and his group although they were yet to be introduced to Elizabeth the others along with Will and Elizabeth herself. "Alright, but if you're to brave the haunted shores at 'World's End', then you'll need a captain who knows those waters. Before anyone could answer next, footsteps came down from Tia Dalma's second floor and low and behold from the wooden stairway it was Captain Barbossa and his monkey pet on his right shoulder. The man asked, "So tell me, what's become of my ship?" As he did so, he bit into a green apple with its juices dripping down his face and he laughed a little as his monkey growled leaving everyone in utter shock and surprise to his return. A few hours later, Mike and his group would introduce themselves to Elizabeth and her group and explain about their purpose in Port Royal, but also little did they know, the Squadron would return and Riku would have the fight of his life fast approaching.

(A fine end to such a long chapter. This has taken me forever to do, but it is done. As was said, this is leading up to At World's End and I will try to follow that movie as best as I can as well. The significance of Chris seeing his parents from looking at Jack and Elizabeth kissing will make a lot more sense as I keep going too. It has a lot to the Eternal Beyond as a small spoiler. More to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The City of Randgriz.)

(Review.)


	37. Chapter 36

The City of Randgriz

(I decided for this chapter to make it a little cute and chose a very special song for this section of the story from a classic: the Jungle Book!! If you have this song I would listen to it, download it or do whatever. I didn't change anything of course and this is exactly the same as that other tidbit chapter I posted up a couple of weeks before. So that aside, without further or due, enjoy this chapter of Kingdom Hearts: the Eternal Beyond.)

Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry arrived in the past of the Anime Planet, but definitely not in a peaceful place either. The people that were in the vicinity of the main plaza of the city they were in raced to their doors and closed up shop everywhere: The Patisserie closed up for the day, the Pizzeria, The Flower Shop, everything was boarded up. Victor also noticed a hint of fear in the peoples' eyes as they did so. Henry asked, "What's got them in a bind eh?" Victor was puzzled as to where they were and why the people were shocked and answered, "You got me? Of course we entered this land from a portal so anyone could get scared off." Sora turned to Victor and asked, "Where are we Victor?" Victor took a good look around and turned around to notice a giant road leading from the main plaza of the city towards a giant castle of the sort. It was over three hundred feet wide, carved of very special grey brick with blue shingles across the roof tops of the castle's towers, and its largest tower stretched over a hundred feet in length. On each of the walls of the castle were blue and white flags with a crown and two lions at each representing the coat of arms for the castle. Victor snapped his fingers and said, "I got it. We're in the City of Randgriz fellas." Donald gasped and said, "What? The City of Randgriz?"

Henry curious as to what the fuss was about asked, "What's the big deal about the City of Randgriz?" Donald soon explained about his knowledge of this world since he of course studied about many of the foreign worlds located in Victor's quadrant, just outside the Solar system and explained that at this time in the Anime Planet's history was a was like none other: The First Europan War. It claimed many lives and cost the Atlantic states and the Imperial states billions in damage and war costs. The City of Randgriz was something else. It was a huge metropolis in the great state of Gallia in the midst of Europa, a place that was soon to enter conflict as well. Randgriz was encircled by a giant wall of white brick, closing off the rest of the town and Castle Randgriz itself from conflict from the outside. Victor then said, "I knew I recognized this place. You see in my world this is actually a videogame in my world. This just goes to show even my people back home and anyone anywhere else can create worlds just with a little technology and a good story." "I don't see what's so fascinating about this. We are in the past and any wrong move here could likely change the timeline for this world all together, remember that Victor.", Donald quacked with seriousness.

Victor attempted to calm Donald down, Meanwhile Henry and Sora found a nice set of tables with chairs nearby the closed Pizzeria to sit down and rest. As Sora caught his breath and relaxed, Henry stared into space thinking about his family. His almighty dad, the King of Sanshobi and his mother the Queen of Sanshobi had gone nearly half a year without seeing their beloved son and he wondered if he could let them know he was alright along with Victor and the others. Yet almost as enchanted as he was with his daydreaming as well, he heard a wonderful singing voice as well. It was very faint at first, but slowly it began to grow and grow, like a flower when it's watered with tender care and affection.

Henry stood up and caught the attention of Sora and eventually Victor and Donald who stopped squabbling to hear the voice sing:

'_My own home, my own home  
My own home, my own home'_

The voice was radiant, youthful and vibrant and the song was so enchanting a man's heart could melt from hearing such beauty. Henry raced off with Victor, Sora, and Donald racing off after him across the city to the near end of the gates itself. There was one single, sky blue house just five minutes from the gate of Randgriz. The house was not boarded up like the others, along with half the other houses almost as if they weren't afraid or did not know of _Victor's prescence_. This sky blue house also had a well in the backyard of this peaceful little house, to which Henry ran towards where the song was coming from. Yet covering his tracks was a giant rose bush stretching to the other side of the castle's right wall.

Sora then said panting and catching his breath again, with Victor and Donald, "You know if you were going to race off like this, you could have…" Henry shushed him and said, "Listen."

'_My own home, my own home  
My own home, my own home'_

Henry dove into the bush saying, "I have to know who is making that wonderful music. Before Donald could react Victor held his chest and Donald quacked silently, "Why are doing this? You know as well as I do we'll get in trouble for breaking and entering. That's against your rules too isn't it?" Victor then said quietly, "Aha, but we're on the outside though. We're just patrolling the streets, a common initiative for defending people, now let's listen."

'_**Father's hunting in the forest**_

Henry peered from the bush to lay eyes on a gorgeous, young pre-teen girl, about his age if not exactly his age. She wore a plum purple dress with a white apron with a rose at its center covering her chest and held a brown wooden bucket used for collecting water. She was collecting water from her giant blue brick well that had a hole over fifteen feet deep. Henry gazed into her pine needle green eyes and upon her gorgeous afternoon blonde hair and felt the same way he did with Princess Angelica. He crept closer until he was just a few feet behind the well and that beautiful young lady._  
_

_**Mother's cooking in the home**_

The boy kept staring as she kept collecting water in the brown bucket and tossed it into a ten pound grey pot. He became entranced by her. Meanwhile, Sora and Donald stared at this affection and Sora asked, "I hope this doesn't end like how it did with Princess Angelica. Maybe we should…"Victor held Sora's shoulder as he said, "Let it go buddy. This'll be good for the kid. I let my heart get closed off from women for a good long time before I met Anastasia. Let's see where this goes."

_  
__**I must go to fetch the water  
'Til the day that I'm grown**_

Henry blushed as the girl took out her worn out green rags off a clothes hanger and also began folding them up together and piling them on top of each other. The boy noticed she was wearing white black slippers covering her white socks that shown through the dark velvet.

_  
__**'Til I'm grown, 'til I'm grown  
I must go to fetch the water  
'Til the day that I'm grown**_

The lovely girl looked to her bucket of water before tossing it into the pot and noticed his reflection in the water turned around to her side and saw the boy looking towards her way and Henry tripped on a rock and fell into some mud. The girl giggled a little at this display and Henry ran off diving into the bush and back towards Victor and his group.

_**Then I will have a handsome husband**_

She closed her eyes and began to brush her hair with a long wooden hairbrush of her own. Henry looked back up, shy and quiet as could be as he went closer again. Sora smiled at this and noticed Victor smiled as well, with a slight tear to his eye. Sora asked smugly, "Are you okay bud?" Victor wiped away his tear quick and said, "Come on, can't a guy be happy for a kid like Henry. It's awesome."_  
_

_**And a daughter of my own  
And I'll send her to fetch the water**_

The girl purposely dropped her bucket of water and it landed near Henry as he picked it up kindly. "She did that on purpose.", Donald exclaimed. "Obviously.", Victor responded. Henry grabbed some water and poured it into her pot. As he grabbed the pot itself, his hands met with the girls tender little hands as well. He could not get over this wonderful moment they were sharing.

_**  
I'll be cooking in the home  
Then I'll send her to fetch the water  
I'll be cooking in the home'**_

She lifted it as best she could and Henry helped her out and they both dropped it onto her table just on the veranda of the girl's house. She smiled and Henry blushed evermore with his left arm crossed around the back of his neck saying, "You have a great singing voice you know." The girl hushed his lips and spoke while Henry stared into her rosemary pink lips as she said, "My name's Isalis, Isalis Laterose. What's yours?" "Henry Capulet. Although I wish I did not step in that mud. I'm all messy.", Henry shyly said leering his away from the girl's sight. The girl smiled at this and giggled sweetly as she heard a twig branch snap.

Soon Victor, Donald and Sora appeared from the bushes as Victor said, "Henry's a little shy when it comes to girls. He had a rough experience a while back." The girl noticed the others and asked, "So who might you be?" After some brief introductions they all went inside her serene house which of course resembled that of any 1930 house inside. There were a few animal head trophies of wild boars, deer and even a mountain lion and a grizzly bear hanging just over a warm fireplace. Next to that were a giant section of library books and a man sitting in his chair drinking some champagne when he overheard his daughter sit on his lap and gave him a big hug. This a man at thirty five years of age was a redhead, his face covered with a thick mustache, and a short beard stood up wearing a brown set of clothes and carried his wonderful daughter across to the living room: a short tiny room with a couple of red couches and a green carpet underneath them. There Victor and co. rested while just across the wooden hallway into the bright 1930s kitchen the pot with water was coming to a boil smelling of a meat and vegetable stew brewing.

The man startled to see the group asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" "I'm sorry sir. It's my fault. I saw my little green haired buddy here, Henry get entranced by your daughter's singing…" Victor said stroking Henry's hair as he rested on his right shoulder. "And one thing led to another and we really have nowhere else to go." The man seeing Donald and Sora rest on the other couch against each other's backs said, "You all seem like nice folk so I'll let you stay for the night. Just don't go into my private storage room: it's where I keep all my animal skins and rugs. My name is Benjamin Laterose, but you can call me Ben." Victor soon introduced himself and the others to him and explained their situation with the Squadron to which he said, "Sounds like terrible stuff. Luckily I trained myself to be fearless and strict. It's why I never let my daughter near a boy ever. Ever since her mother died three years ago, things have never been the same for me really." Victor then replied saying, "And yet she has such a wonderful singing voice, like that of an angel. Believe you me I know one myself. I'm surprised a guy didn't notice her sooner for that voice. Where'd she learn to sing like that?"

Ben replied, "It was an old tune my grandmother sung to me as a boy. It's been passed down from generation to generation and now Isalis learned it because I wanted to honor my family name, that sweet little angel." A moment later Ben then asked Victor, "Do you love this 'angel' of yours?" Victor nodded with a slight sigh knowing Anastasia was still captured by the Squadron. Ben then said, "If there's one thing I know is this, you can never leave your loved ones for too long. Sometimes down the road of life, it can make you regret things sometimes even curse it too. Remember that for me, will you Victor?" Victor nodded as he looked upon Sora and Donald snug as two peas in a pod and Henry who smiled in his sleep as Victor stroked his right shoulder.

Later they all ate supper and went outside to enjoy the crisp night time air before heading off for bed. Victor noticed Henry playing tag with Isalis and the boy and girl just laughing and enjoying their company together to which Ben said to Victor, "I'm so happy for her. She's finally got a boy who can respect her. I always was afraid without her mother she wouldn't develop into a strong woman, but she has always been supportive of me when I was alone and that boy Henry seems like a fine lad." Victor explained to him saying, "Prince or no Prince he is a good guy. I know I'm not related by blood, but he still is always a good kid that I gotta tell you." Ben smiled as he gazed upon his daughter Isalis hugging Henry and felt at peace with himself. "I have to thank you Victor.", Ben said. "For what Ben?", Victor asked.

"Thanks to your friend Henry Capulet I can leave this place. I was always sad living in this city as a boy. I lost my parents in the First Europan War and I was only fifteen too when I was enlisted. I promised I would not let it get in the way of forming my own family and I have with my wife and daughter. Now Isalis is all I have left. I want her to be happy and if this boy can do that, I would die a happy man.", Ben said. Victor held the man as he happily smiled to his waving daughter and Henry waving to Sora, Donald and Victor too. Victor asked, "So where do you plan to go? It might be hard to break your daughter of her home you know." Ben soon explained that he heard of a peaceful kingdom known as Sanshobi, the same place his wife was born in and the same place his daughter was also born in. He explained that he would take her there and live happily together away from conflict.

Victor also explained that Henry was from there as well and that also brought relief to Ben. Clearly this man could see no harm in the boy being here holding his daughter's hand. Then a bell rang like wildfire as the group got stirred up over it. They ran to the gates and sure enough were groups of people coming from the North of Gallia as the drawbridge lowered. Sora asked Victor, "What's happening?" Victor said, "Trouble. This is isn't just people moving into this city. I got a bad feeling about this." Behind them was a group of people with a giant blue and grey tank that was known to the people of Gallia as the Edelweiss. It reflected Gallia's flag on its sides and shown valiantly in the sunset glimmer. Around the tank were various people from the North. From the Edelweiss came a light brunette girl and from the tank a tall brunette university student jumped down to the ground. Amongst them with a dark brunette girl in a blue dress and a light wool coverup on her chest and around her shoulders jumping down from the tank as well all three of them walking towards our heroes. Little did they know there was bound to be trouble ahead, with the news in Randgriz looking as grim with people crying and men getting dragged off towards the army enlistment camps near the castle. The Second Europan War had begun in Gallia and our heroes would later become part of that same resistance as would the Squadron when they armed themselves with the Empire.

(A fantastic chapter if I do say so myself. Henry finally gets the girl!! I really felt sorry for the poor lad and gave him a second shot at love and decided what better way than use a song from a classic Disney movie that we all know and love. My female character Isalis I sort of based off of someone very special I know in my life. This girl was always a sweetheart and is to this day. Call me whatever you want here as well, but of course this chapter reflects my respect for women and why I treat them as if they were my own sisters. As the chapter indicated as well this is during Valkyria Chronicles and pretty soon our heroes will become involved in the fight against the Empire. There's more to come, so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Off to War.)

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	38. Chapter 37

Off to War

As the people kept strolling into Randgriz, the Edelweiss also strolled into the main gates, but not any farther than where it was permitted near the south most tip of town. A tall brunette university student along a dark brunette girl in a blue dress and light chest cover-up and a light brunette girl in soldier attire arrived and soon approached our heroes Victor, Sora and co. along with Ben and his daughter Isalis. The tall brunette and Victor approached each other with good respect and right off the bat they seemed like they could be good friends.

"So what petrel is going on here then if I might ask?", Victor inquired. "It's awful, just plain awful. All these people are refugees from across the entire country. The Empire has taken more land than we can defend and we were lucky enough to evacuate all of these people. We're just coming in from Bruhl, the Northwestern most town in Gallia.", The tall brunette answered. Ben then said, "I heard about you. You're that university student that helped fend off the brutes from Bruhl with the scouts and watchmen from that town aren't ya?" The man nodded politely. To break this humble conversation was the light brunette girl in army clothing who cleared her throat and then the tall brunette said, "How rude of me though. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Welkin Gunther, son of General Gunther. This girl in the scout's uniform is Alicia Melchiott, and this girl next to the Edelweiss is Isara Gunther. I should add we're not really related by blood, but that my dad took her in when her parents died. Although I think I've a lot as is, I'm sorry." The gang laughed a little kindly as Victor patted him on the back.

"Nope you haven't Welkin. My name's Victor Nazarevich, sworn member of the MVC and the protector of the Southwest Quadrant of the Universe. This is Sora, Donald, Henry Capulet, Benjamin and Isalis Laterose.", Victor replied pointing to each of his friends. "So I guess the war has begun hasn't it?", Victor asked. "Yes it has, but how did you know?", Welkin asked. "I figured with how you mentioned the Empire took your land and the amount of refugees coming here so it's not really a complicated 'put two-in-two together'." Welkin nodded while laughing softly as he said, "Well it was nice meeting you guys. We're off to sign up for the war. You can sign up too if you want." Soon enough they headed on off together towards one of the large beige signup tents and Ben asked Victor, "You're not really gonna sign up for this are you?" Victor nodded. "You bet I am. I won't force everyone else to, but I'm obligated to. This world is my responsibility along with any other world in this 'neck of the woods' of mine." But sure enough everyone in the group agreed to sign up, excluding Isalis and Benjamin who were already packing up for Sanshobi and couldn't be there. Victor explained everything about their quest to Welkin and the others before heading off to the signup tent.

Everything went smoothly in an odd sense. Victor, Sora, Donald, Welkin, Alicia, Isara and Henry were all accepted into the Squad army: Squad 7 to be exact. The group was on their way towards their barracks, but before leaving outside, a woman by the name of Eleanor Varrot approached Victor and the gang with a strict look on her face though. Welkin asked, "Is there a problem Captain." "There is Welkin. That child there is underage for this battle. I cannot allow someone that young to enter this fight. I speak not as your captain, but as an adult. It's too dangerous for a boy that size nor age.", Eleanor responded. The group saddened a little and Henry looked to the ground too in disappointment. "Let me take responsibility.", Victor responded. The group and even Alicia and Isara gasped at this response. "Young man, do you realize the consequences you would be undertaking should you go through with this. That boy isn't even related to you by blood and you would risk his parents to be concerned and worried as well.", the woman responded. "First, I was given responsibility over him a long time ago Ms. Varrot. Calling a commanding officer is a policy retained by those who live in this country, not for me, with all due respect. Second, you have my word that any wound this boy receives I shall put immediate attention to. As a member of the MVC, I have duty and rules myself to uphold. Those of which I should add can overrule this army's any day of the week.", Victor responded.

Everyone braced for a hard stern yelling and Alicia then yelled at Victor, "Are you off your rocker? This is our Captain. We have no right to…" Eleanor Varrot shushed Alicia and waved her arm up and down before giving Victor a calm expressionless stare and then a slight smile came to her as she replied, "Alright then son. I believe in your quest and it is just. I received word from a man by the name of Michael; he's your brother is he not?" Victor nodded. "It would seem you have a blessed family to be working together like this and looking out for each other. I respect that. This conversation is dismissed. I expect you all to be well rested and ready at 600 hours. We have the matter of the attack on Vasel Bridge to get acquainted with. I look forward to your results Welkin. For now so long.", Eleanor said turning back towards her office. Welkin just smiled as the group bickered about the situation on towards their barracks. As they headed inside Victor stared into the blue sky with hope and concern as well. "It's tough being a leader isn't it?", Welkin asked walking towards him. "I take it you've been assigned as the Squad leader then. Lucky you then.", the boy squirmed in response. Welkin just laughed and replied, "You really are quite a guy. You stood up for that little boy there and stood by your promise to keep him safe. You and I are not so alike. If anything were to harm Isara, I would not know what to do. As far as I'm concerned you did the right thing."

Victor sighed as he said this to which Welkin asked, "Is something the matter?" Victor of course saw this game and just little over three months before meeting Sora played it as a way of getting his wrists into action. He witnessed how the war would play out, the deaths of lives that would be at stake, but also the grief many soldiers in Squad 7 would also take. He of course decided he would tell Welkin eventually, but not today though. "It's nothing really. We'd better get inside, get to know our squad members I guess.", Victor said. They both went inside and with some introductions they got to know each member of the squad. A tall man by the name of Largo was talking to a girl named Rosie about their new squad leader and the conclusion was all the same. "If you ask me he's a little young for this job. I've done quite better back in EW1 if you ask me.", a man named Largo Potter had exclaimed. "Yeah, he parades that 'Darksen' around like she's some sort of queen.", Rosie proclaimed. Victor overhearing this just walked on by ignoring with his hands in his pockets. "What's your story Victor, if that's really your name?", Rosie asked. "You know you have a lot of nerve the both of you. I heard about your little deal with Welkin. If you guys take Vasel Bridge, you gotta smarten up and listen to him whether you like it or not." Largo then showed off his size to Victor, who being five foot nine could not match to Largo's tall six foot eight status. "But if we lose, he has to step down as Squad leader.", Largo insisted.

Victor shook his head at both of them as he laughed and said, "I really feel sorry for you guys. I really do. You have no idea what will become of your precious Squad leader or that 'Darksen' you called Isara out to be. She's your only engineer who can pilot the Edelweiss too so what's your excuse. I at least was promoted to co. Squad Leader and can lead an army as well." They both knew they couldn't come up with a good comeback to match that and then of course the entire squad circled around them with anticipation about the outcome of this argument. "So what's your story here, with those people you call friends.", Rosie asked. Once again Victor had to explain (I know it is a pain to do it over and over again) who he was and who his friends were of course and then Rosie smirked off, but Largo of course replied with anticipation, "You know what kid? You're alright. We've never had outsiders from afar help us out. So where are you from again?" Victor of course just mentioned Canada and apparently in this world the 'Anime Planet' Canada was known as Canadia and the USA was known as the United Union of America (I kinda figured if Europe could be called Europa why not any other country around the world right?) "Right you guys, we best get some shuddah. We have work to do tomorrow.", Welkin said as he broke up the party as he sent everyone to their cabins.

In the morning after hearing the plan up front, Victor and the others did see it as a bit improbable however. Even Sora asked Victor, "Do you really think this will work? It does seem like a long shot." "I don't know Sora. I do trust Welkin though. As far as I'm concerned that's all I need right now. Now let's get ready.", Victor replied. They all transformed into their armoured suits, excluding Donald, to which the other squad members gasped at, not noticing the tank disappear into the fog and into the river finally. Rosie asked, "How do you guys get fancy armour huh?" Victor of course nervous said, "This isn't really the time nor place you guys. After the bridge is clear I'll tell you all about it." It didn't take long. After the Edelweiss broke through the main defenses across the river, then after a short while a flare shot into the sky signaling their time to attack. With powerful strategy on their side, Victor, Sora, Donald, and Henry entered into battle with many of the scouts firing through clearing a path. A tank soon spotted them and the scouts ran for cover. Victor and the others ran in and one by one, each tank was slashed away with ease by Victor and his group. Near the dawn of the day, Vasel Bridge was overrun and the Imperial retreated back to the north. The Bridge was closed up and soon everyone set up came near it as well.

Eleanor Varrot arrived and as expected came to Welkin Gunther for a report. "It appears that Lieutenant Gunther's plan worked. An impressive start soldier." , Eleanor said. "Thank you captain.", Welkin responded. "The kid's crazy. Drove a damn tank right into the stinkin' river.", Largo answered. "Yeah, and I can't believe it worked. I'm still in shock.", Rosie answered as well. But of course Victor and co. held their arms crossed as Alicia exclaimed, "All right you two! Now you hold up your side of the bargain and you listen to Welkin." Largo walked off with his tail between his legs and Rosie then said, "The kid may have the chops to command, but that don't mean I gotta like any stinkin dark-hairs." Before Alicia could do anything at all, Donald held her left arm and shook his head. The duck then said, "They're already under watch by Victor now. He made a side bargain that if Welkin won he'd have the honour of teaching them some manners should they get out of line." Isara then said, "It's okay…I'm used to it by now. I hope…I know one day Darksens can join society as equals."Yet even as the crowds of Squad 7 gathered for a picture, Victor still couldn't help, but sigh at Isara as he knew her fate would not be welcomed lightly by him. For now though, it was time to celebrate a well accomplished victory for Squad 7.

(A long, yet interesting chapter. It may take a while to get through this portion of the story, but I feel I'm off to a good start with my point of view on Valkyria Chronicles. I am going to follow the game as closely as I can and add in a few tidbits since this does involve Victor and his group of course. As said in the previous chapter, it would seem this version of Europe, let alone the 'Anime Planet' was created from various games and anime/manga that people from Earth made. I've always found this to be an odd and true concept about whether or not everything is not as it seems. Our idea of perception in other words, may not be real at all and potentially there could be many other worlds in 'parallel universes', diff. dimensions and all that sci-fi junk we've all heard talk about this. With that said, there's a lot more to come for this story though so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Kloden Forest here we come!)

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	39. Chapter 38

Kloden Forest here we come!

The gang got up from a well balanced sleep to be told of their next mission in the heart of Kloden Forest. In Captain Varrot's small army office, Welkin and Faldio gathered to listen in on their next objective. "Our next target is here in the Kloden Area.", Cpt. Varrot said. "The Kloden Wildwood… I was there last summer taking soil samples. It's a dense forest with plenty of hills and valleys. It's hard to get around in there.", Welkin continued. All the while as Faldio, Welkin and Cpt. Varrot discussed their next move, Victor and the others waited outside discussing and overhearing the conversation.

"What do you think we should do?", Henry asked Sora. "It's a tough call. We'll just have to have faith in Welkin though. He knows this place more than anyone else.", the brunette keyblade wielder said as they sat on some old wooden chairs in the humongous 1930s barracks. Victor crossed his arms in hope as Donald then said, "Well we can't just sit by and do nothing. We have to at least try and use our special powers to help them out." Victor chuckled a little at this to which Donald asked what was so funny. "We have to remember Donald, this is the same place they're collecting their main supplies and equipment for the Central invasion Force. We'd be writing our wills to go in there. Plus Mike told me of the Squadron's fleets too. 90% are either in the Barious Desert, Kloden Forest or on the Naggiar Plains. That's a lot of troops I got to say. But since they're spread out we could cripple them a little bit by bit.", the brunette said as he transformed into his white armour. Soon after, Sora transformed into his gold armour and Henry into his grey armour.

Eventually after being debriefed, Victor and co. were on their way with Welkin and Squad 7 to Kloden Forest hoping to find the key to victory in the woods. Rosie asked Victor trudging through the underbrush and heart of the woods, "So what's it like wearing that armour and all? It must be pretty good and powerful I'll bet having won back Vasel Bridge easily." Victor couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, "You guys have clearly not heard of the Squadron then. They'd put these guys money where their mouths are any day of the week." Victor explained about the Squadron and their goals in brief but precise words to Rosie as she said, "Sounds like tough cookies then. They're even better than the Empire too. I don't know if we could handle them too." "You won't. I made an agreement with Welkin. When we get to Kloden, my buddies and I will take the main front of troops while you guys go and secure the base from the other side. Trick now is these woods.", Victor said. Soon Welkin passed Alicia some black 'pebbles' to her and she asked, "Sure Welkin. What are these?" Some kind of nuts." "Actually they're Longbeard Goat Droppings.", Welkin said. Disgusted Alicia dropped the droppings and said, "Ewwww, gross!! You made me hold poo!! Are you crazy?!?"

Even as Sora and Henry laughed a little, Alicia turned around to notice them chuckling and asked, "You think this is really funny huh?" Sora trying to hold it in said, "c-c-c-c No no, of course it's not…-tck-tck" Annoyed Alicia sighed at this and Victor said, "You know, I just saw this little pig here in a thicket somewhere along the way here Welks. Maybe you know what it is?" Donald, like Rosie, was a little impatient at Welkin's love for nature and smacked his head with his face when he heard what Victor said. "Oh no, not you too Victor. One nature boy's enough, but two is overboard.", the duck quacked. "It could help us out though. Follow me." Trampling through a grassy path Welkin pointed out he said, "See, what'd I tell you guys. These paths are always cleared by animals when they want to use an efficient way of migrating. With any luck we could take the base before sundown at this rate." Through the long grassy trail they were walking through, it took a couple of hours to make it through. There was a small clearing with small hill sides and trees all around as they decided to rest here.

Henry scraped his left arm and Isara eventually tended to it before Victor could stop her. She smiled at the green haired boy as she said, "It's no big deal. I'm happy to help." Henry could only blush at this while looking at his bandaged arm, but not for long as a twig snapped in the tall woodland grass. "We're not alone.", Isara said. "I'll go take a look", Sora said. Alicia followed from behind and yelled out, "Put your hands in the air!" From out in the tall grass came a small pig with wings on its back. "It looks like a porcavian piglet.", Isara said. Victor smiled and laughed as he said, "Wow that takes 'when pigs fly' to a whole new level." Welkin went in further to investigate, but came back with sigh under his breath. "It looks like the poor thing's mom was killed during a skirmish. A stray bullet got her deep in her left side.", Welkin said. Squad 7 crowded around the poor little piglet and Henry said, "That's awful. How could anyone just do that to a poor animal?" With deepened sighs and shrugs, Victor said, "Why don't we keep it?" "What? Can we?", Alicia asked Welkin. "Sure. Every Gallian has the right to join." With more happy reliefs from Sora and the others and Squad 7 themselves, Victor said, "I think I got a plan Welkin." Welkin listened in to Victor and his crafty mind at work as he continued.

"Maybe we could use these tall trees and dense grass to our advantage. If I may add a suggestion that is.", Victor implied in his answer. "Lay it on me friend, what do ya got?" Victor explained that since the base was not too far away now from their sights, that they could clear a small trail wide enough for the Edelweiss, but keep enough cover to attack from the trees and completely take the Empire's base there by surprise. "I like it. The only thing though is the snipers though. They might catch on to this and shoot our troops from various angles.", Welkin said. Sora perked up at the sound of this and said with a smile, "You leave them to me sir. With the keyblade on my side I could take the snipers out one by one and you guys will be home free." Welkin agreed and soon enough the plan was underway. Victor cleared a straight enough path using his Sword of Light to cut away at the dense forest and the base camp was straight in their sights. The Squad was still shaken up in utter confidence thinking victory would soon be theirs as it was at Vasel Bridge, but Victor then said, "Tread lightly my friends. Remember, our Squad leader is our main priority through this mission. Should anything happen to him or Isara, this'll have been all for not. Pardon my intrusion Commander Gunther." Welkin smiled and held Victor's right shoulder and said, "You can call me Welkin. Now then…Squad 7 move out!!" Welkin went inside the Edelweiss as Victor, Sora, Henry and Donald as part of Team 2 moved further into the forest and took out each of the ten snipers surround a large yet shallow lake. They moved even further inward. They eventually stumbled upon a tiny base camp and took out each of the shocktroopers patrolling the area.

As the Edelweiss proceeded through the forest and fired upon three men guarding a tiny camp a mere two feet from the base, more and more men from Squad 7 arrived from the dense evergreen forest to take that camp and Isara then warned Welkin about the anti gunnery just up ahead. Hoping for the best though, they pushed on through. Victor and Team 2 meanwhile plowed into the base camp and were the first to start the attack. Henry destroyed the anti gunnery with ease and began their assault upon the shocktroopers and scouts that guarded the area. Welkin and the others arrived as well, but in rough timing however. General Jaeger arrived to the dismay of Squad 7 as he said, "It got here as soon as I could. Apparently it wasn't soon enough." General Jaeger went on to tell his troops, "We'll lost the base and supplies if we hold here. Prepare to evacuate." The troops managed to get out as soon as possible and approached the Edelweiss in his gigantic red monster of a tank and said, "So glad to see the great Squad 7 now in action. I hope I didn't rain in on your parade now." From above in the skies were the Squadron fleet hovering above Victor and friends as he said, "Oh no. The fleet arrived here quicker than I thought. Okay fellas, we'll have to combine our going to destroy those ships and liberate this part of Gallia from the Squadron's control." "How do we do that?", Sora asked holding his arms over his neck. Victor then held out his Sword of Light Towards a single fleet ship and destroyed it in a matter of seconds, to which Rosie and Largo gawked at when they saw this.

The group held their weapons alongside Victor's Sword of Light and aimed for the other thirteen ships in the area and blasted them all out of the skies. Yet as they did General Jaeger blasted Victor and his friends as well, nicking them, but causing damage upon their armor and blowing everyone, but Victor away. Victor then increased his power as he launched himself towards the 'Lupus', General Jaeger's tank. Despite using a quarter of his energy on the fleet and his weakened status, he sliced up the tank nearly to pieces, but before he could deliver the finishing blow, General Radi Jaeger himself popped out of his tank and approached Victor confidently as his troops evacuated and Squad 7 claimed the base. "It seems you have more power than I gave you and your friends credit for. I heard of your victory at Vasel Bridge. Tell me are you the leader of this squad?" Victor shook his head. "The leader is inside the Edelweiss you see before you Jaeger. I know your name because in my world your world is a game for entertainment. Pardon that last comment, but I also believe in honorable fighting. Face me without your tank. You look like a fine swordsman anyway." General Jaeger laughed at this gesture and said, "Someday we will. But for now I leave this area to you and your squad. Take care." General Jaeger escaped inside the 'Lupus' and took his leave as the Squadron and the Empire retreated. The entire squad cheered for victory as Victor himself looked to the skies instead.

Even hours later as victory was assured and they were celebrating back in the Gallian capital, Sora approached Victor with bandaged up arms and legs. He asked, "What's the matter Victor? We won. We outwitted a bunch of guys with guns and monster tank and we still won." Victor shook his head at this as he said, "Sora I let you guys get injured at the cost of this victory. We used up so much energy defeating a single 10% of the Squadron's fleet in this area, I forgot about the chances of evacuation. None of us were prepared for it. Methinks this war may have a few more surprises in waiting for us." Sora nodded as they headed off to the barracks for a camp fire and rested as Squad 7 had some supper consisting of bread, some pork chops and a few stalks of corn. Victor and Henry themselves cooked up the large meal for the group. It was so good that compliments came from all around the Squad about their victory. "So how is it Largo?", Henry asked. Largo then said to Victor and Henry, "I gotta admit you guys know how to cook up a storm here. Where'd you learn to cook like that?" Victor smiled as he said, "When you've been alone like I have you have to learn a few things to keep yourself alive. Henry here learned everything he knows from his parents however." Henry nudged Victor as he said, "I also learned some stuff on my own too ya know. How else can you make paprika on steak taste delicious?"

Everyone kept getting their share of food as Isara approached Victor. Startled as she tapped his shoulder Victor tripped over his own feet. "Sorry if I startled you Victor, but Welkin. It's very urgent.", the girl covered her mouth in shock with both of her hands. Victor ran off to meet Welkin in his office as he discussed the latest victory over the Empire. With him was a blonde woman in a white shirt, green pants and had brown like equipment around her waist and her body as well. On her head, was a green 'caddie-like' hat and on Welkin's desk her camera."Victor, I'd like you to meet Irene Ellet. She's a correspondent for the GBS radio station and is reporting on our victories as Vasel Bridge and Kloden Forest.", Welkin said. Victor shook her hand as he said, "The pleasure's all mine, Irene."

Soon afterwards Victor was interviewed about what his stance was in this world after being found out he was from another planet, let alone another galaxy. Victor explained about his long quest against the Squadron and about his previous adventures in other worlds and his position ever since. "Well thank you for your time Victor. Believe me this is one heck of a scoop." Even as she left, Welkin said, "So, you have been doing this thing before I take it?", the man asked. "You could say that Welks. I have my reasons for doing what I did today. I could have gone after Jaeger, but I feared I was too weak to chase after him." Welkin then asked Victor, "So what is eating you right now? You don't seem like yourself." Victor told Welkin to follow him and they watched over as Isara played tag with Henry, Sora, Alicia and Donald Duck as well. They played and laughed quite a bit as night time began to settle in. "Quite a happy bunch I'll say.", Welkin said. "You know what's really a pain for me? Your sister Isara reminds me a lot of my own girlfriend, Anastasia.", Victor said. They pondered at this statement as Victor continued, "She was captured by the Squadron in their diabolical plot for regaining their souls. That's why I must hurry and save _her_ as quickly as possible. I don't mean just Anastasia either." Welkin asked, "You mean Isara as well? But she's doing just fine." Victor sighed as he walked away slowly to his own private quarters. Welkin ran in front of Victor as he asked the boy, "What do you know about Isara? Is something bad going to happen to her?" Victor then replied, "I can only say this Welks. Take good care of her. We can't afford to lose her, believe me we can't."

Soon after Victor left Welkin went to the campfire to put it out and as Henry asked Sora and the others, "What's eating him?" All they could do was shrugging their shoulders and continue playing. Victor looked up at the moon beginning to peer out in the sky as he thought to himself with his right hand to his chest, 'Mark my words Anastasia, I'm going to save you and Isara from death even if I have to sacrifice my own life to do just that.' He entered into his own cabin he built outside the army barracks and closed the door to get some sleep.

(Interesting chapter I should say. As mentioned by Victor, he has worries about Isara and her fate (big hint to those who have played the game, but those who have not her fate is tragic) and also that of Anastasia and her fate. Not giving a lot away, but Sora, Henry, Victor and a combined effort of Victor, Sora and Welkin will square off against Lord Maximillian, Selvaria Bles, Radi Jaeger, and Berthold Gregor in future chapters to come. Stay tuned for more.)

(Next Time: The Darksen Calamity.)

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	40. Chapter 39

The Darksen Calamity

The group once again was on the road again to another mission, but this time it was among the ruins of an ancient city along with stretches of desert, high cliffs and rocky areas and dried up soil and dirt. Plowing through some of the shocktroopers and other tanks wasn't much of a problem though for Squad 7 and soon enough took a short break to relax from all the stresses of warfare for the time being. Sora then said, "It sure is hot out here, even for a desert it's just blazing hot." Donald took out his guidebook on Gallia and the countryside and found a page on Barious Desert. "According to my guidebook they say temperatures have been recorded as high as 50 degrees Celsius (hint hint since I am Canadian).", the duck replied. Welkin took out a map searching throughout the area and said searching through it, "According to this map all of this area was once a huge city from ancient times, but now all that remains is destroyed bits and pieces that were once houses and other buildings."

Rosie made her snide remark saying, "And it's all thanks to the Darksen Calamity." Rosie of course eating a watermelon to satisfy hunger and thirst spat out a large seed towards Isara when she said this, narrowly missing her hair as it dropped to the ground. As Sora and Henry asked what the Darksen Calamity was about, the stern and truthful brunette said, "The legend says that Darksens used dark arts magic to burn the city and left nothing but ash and rubble. I wouldn't take it seriously though, it's only a myth and nothing more." Rosie of course feeling insulted stood up and approached Victor and his friends resting against the Edelweiss and said, "What kind of old leper told you that? Look around this place speaks for itself, damaged rocks, you name it." "All I'm telling you young lady is that from my world we have a great poet who once said this: 'Never  judge a book by its cover.' Besides I thought we were supposed to take care of some kind of business here.", Victor continued. "We are. There's supposed to be some sort of commotion near the Barious Ruins further up north.", Welkin said. Of course as the plan was laid out, the squad moved further up north to an ancient Valkyrur building in the shape of a black Viking Helmet. As they arrived, Largo said staring into the building's mighty essence, "Huh what's this supposed to be?" As they pondered on what this building was, Faldio arrived out of the blue and said, "There you all are." Sora asked, "Faldio? What are you doing way the heck out here?" "I'm an archeology major so I was ordered to observe the Barious Ruins and its interior.", Faldio replied. "The shape sure is strange that's for sure.", Henry said. "I feel like I've seen it before…hm where could it have been?", Welkin replied. "This building was supposedly erected by the Valkyrur themselves over a millennia ago.", Faldio continued.

"So they actually existed then?", Isara asked. "Yes legend has it that they arrived in Europan history a thousand years ago bringing advanced technology and 'divine might'. Then one day their history ends and they all just disappeared.", Faldio once again continued. "That's it…I know where I've seen it. A dreadnotilus.", Welkin said. "A dreadnotilus, now Welkin?", Alicia asked. "A marine cephalopod that lives inside a pointy spiral shell. That's where I've seen it, I wonder if there's a connection here to it.", Welkin continued. "Welkin, you can be such a…" Before she could continue, Victor interrupted saying, "Simply amazing. You guys really aren't that much different from my world." Faldio asked Victor, "In what way do you mean?" "Well from my world, in Europe. There was a mighty race known as the Romans. They conquered nearly half of it as well as Africa which here would be known as Africana isn't that right?" Welkin and Alicia nodded hearing this. "Well a millennia ago they also told some pretty harsh tales about a race of people known as the Israelites and after conquering their kind made their entire race slaves to do their bidding and gave their land to neighboring peoples that would be known as the 'Palestinians'. I guess that's what I find so funny." Rosie then instantly remarked, "Except the Darksens didn't make slaves of anyone. They just destroyed innocent lives." Victor could only laugh at this as Faldio then said, "So anyways I'm planning on taking a look inside. Perhaps you guys can give me a hand and help me out. We may even find out why the Empire is out here in the Barious Ruins." Welkin asked Alicia to come in with him as well as Victor Sora and Donald. Everyone else was to wait outside.

Before heading inside Rosie asked Victor what was so funny back a moment ago. Just as the sun was setting, Victor said, "You really have no idea do you? Well regardless if you take my word or not, your precious Valkyrur are just like the Romans on my planet. They were both proud races, but barbarians in suited armor. The Valkyrur as well have done nothing but contribute to destructive behavior that led you guys to the First Europan War in the first place as well. I've said enough as is though so take care." Victor left inside as Rosie was baffled and put in her place pondering why he would be little such a great race of respected peoples. As the group of Faldio, Welkin, Alicia, Victor, Sora and Donald arrived inside, they couldn't help but stare into awe at the size of the ancient white room made of hard brick and was carefully carved to form intricate symbols on each wall. "Look at the size of this place, it's ginormous!", Sora exclaimed. "Amazing isn't it? I was surprised when I first came here too." As they took a good look into the brick like ruins of the interior, Alicia said, "There are no windows or sky lights. Yet it's still so light." "That's because the ruins are made of stone with a high ragnite concentration. It lights itself up.", Faldio said.

Victor then said to the two conversing, "Hey, get over here you two Welkin's spotted something." As they all reformed near one particular wall to their left, Faldio said looking at the writing on the wall, "It's an Old Northern script. It was the dominant writing system of Europa and can still be found on old monuments today." Sora asked, "Can you read it?" Faldio nodded as he explained his prior learning of it from his last year in college before entering the war. "It's seems as if its describing the books account of the Darksen Calamity. The Darksens unlocked some sort of secret property within the ragnite and tried to conquer the continent. 'A hundred cities razed in its fell light: ten hundred thousand men and beast therewith.' It says this city was one of those cities lost in the purge as well. It was in the middle of the destruction that the Valkyrur came into the picture. Supposedly they rose to face the Darksens with sacred lances blue with flame. That became the War of the Valkyrur." Donald then said, "But how can this be? It's more like a fairy tale."

Faldio continued shaking his head, "But ruins like these dot the Europan Map. A majority of the anthropological community now acknowledge that the Valkyrur did exist. They eventually dispersed the Darksens across the face of Europa and became victorious. They're even hailed as the saviors of Europa today by the few people that worship them as such. The Darksens were branded with their past and persecuted for it. Plus with no land of their own they had to work as laborers and ragnite miners." "Which is why there are so many Darksens working in the industrial sector today.", Welkin replied. "Well that's all fine and dandy for now, but we still got some work to do now don't we?", Victor said. "He's right. We'd keep a look out for Imperial tracks.", Faldio replied. Whilst they discussed about the Imperials interest here, Welkin's eye caught onto a special door just five feet from him with a circular carved stone in the center. "Faldio what do you suppose that is?", he asked. "It's called the Valkyrian Spiral. I was talking before about their power, remember? The sacred blue flame? The spiral motif on their carvings is said to represent inexhaustible power. Aside from this, it's an empty room. No Imperial entry or nothing.", Faldio explained.

Before the others could head outside to greet the others though, Alicia touched the Valkyrian Spiral and it opened on command. As the others stared at her she said, "What? I barely touched it and it just opened on its own." "It looks like there's more than we bargained for here.", Donald said. "What a discovery! There's a huge basement in the Barious Ruins as it would appear to be.", Faldio said. "Well net's not get all timid and cross eyed here, let's go in.", Victor said. Since Victor said it first, he also was the first to enter inside the dark chasm. "What is this place?", Welkin asked. "I don't know. It just seems to go on forever.", Alicia said staring into the black depths of the bottomless pit just five feet in front of them. Even as they approached the walls that also had more ancient writing even further back than the Old Northern script from before, Victor transformed into his armored suit surprising Sora. "What is it Victor?", the curious brunette had to ask. "We're not alone people. It would seem that we got company." Out of the blue a blonde man with a golden wreath in his hair, white robe and in a blended mix of white royal clothing and grey armor appeared with a silver haired woman in dark clothing with an ancient shield in her right arm wielding a grey lance.

"How surprising to find you here. We don't get many visitors.", the blonde man said. "I won't ask how you got into this place. It's not really important. However, you defile this place with your prescence.", the blonde man continued as he began to walk away. Victor then said, "Well well well. The almighty Maximillian shows his face. Why look there! It also would seem you had help getting in here as well with Selvaria." The group got worried as Maximillian stood for a moment. Selvaria turned to face Victor as she said, "You dare to mock my grace and lord?" Maximillian held out his right hand and stopped her before she could prepare for attack. "You child what is your name?", Maximillian asked. "Victor. I'll also say this: how dare you two defile this place with your intrusion. This area is on Gallian soil and so help me I will attack your capitol directly should you and your entire army not vacate this country immediately.", the boy in white armor said. "How very intriguing that would show such discontent in front of a man such as myself.", Maximillian said. From the shadows came a blue hooded man who revealed himself looking like that of Demyx. The blue hooded man said, "Well I tried to warn you Maximillian, this guy is trouble."Sora took out his keyblade and Donald readied himself as well with his magic staff for battle. "Put your toys away fellas. Adelip at your service here. As you can see here we don't have the time to deal with you all right now so we'll just be on our way and…"

"Fat chance. You guys aren't…", Sora said before being interrupted by Victor. Victor then said holding his left shoulder, "Let them go Sora. These are priceless ruins we have here. A fight here would surely cause the place to collapse, something I think Faldio would rather die than let happen." Sora of course remembering Faldio's involvement here stepped down and soon Adelip disappeared into a blue portal while Maximillian and Selvaria left as well. But before he did so, he said to Victor, "Oh mighty lad of white armor, Victor. I should hope to meet you again. You seem to possess powers that even the Valkyrur have not been able to tap into." Even as they disappeared, Victor ran right after them with the group following steady behind. As Victor and the others stepped outside of the Barious ruins, there stood the Batomys as Maximillian entered it to pilot it. He and Selvaria of course had a two minute head start to reach the base of the cliffs, the only thing stopping the Batomys from ripping it to pieces. A battle would go on today: the MVC would officially declare war on the Empire after the end of this battle.

(As said in this chapter I have compared the Valkyrur from Valkyria Chronicles to the Romans and the Roman Empire because of similar successes and also how they conquered Israel and how their prejudiced lives came to be in later times during the last millennia and beyond. While it is easy for me to say I do have my reasons for hating the Romans for their barbaric ways, I also can commend them of course for their proud achievements and strong armies and technological advancements for their time. Same would be the case of the Valkyrur and what they did to the Darksens in Valkyria Chronicles. More yet to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Batomys.)

(Review.)


	41. Chapter 40

The Batomys

Faldio headed out leaving Squad 7 hearing that Selvaria was attacking his troops east of the temple. "It's just as I feared. Welkin, you and everyone else should hold your ground and prepare for the worse.", Victor said. Welkin nodded as Henry greeted Victor asking him, "What is that giant tank doing here?" Henry pointed to the Batomys: a gigantic red monstrosity of mechanics, eight mighty canons surrounding the base of the machine, and three engines surrounding the top of the mecha giant. Victor then said, "Now is the time for us to act with great caution Sora, Henry, Donald. We got to take out that tank before it reaches the Ruins." Welkin then asked Victor, "Perhaps I could deal with the canons and blast them all one by one while you three attack and disable the engines. No doubt Selvaria is dealing with Faldio's troops and will arrive here shortly to deal with us." Victor nodded as he said this and agreed. While Victor and co. headed out to deal with the tank and its engines, Welkin got back into the Edelweiss and the other troops, Alicia, Largo, Rosie and the rest of Squad 7 attacked a neighboring base near the temple to assist in case of reinforcements.

Sora himself also saw hooded men everywhere attack them to which he said, "Great, the Squadron's here too." "Buckle down my friend; we knew what we'd be in for. Mike said the Squadron fleet had some patrolling going on here and have retreated so these guys are all that's left from those fleet ships." Sora transformed into his golden armored suit and blasted through every last man in the area with his golden sword. He also got to the top of the Batomys and disabled one of the engines slowing it down a little. "There's one.", the brunette said. Victor nodded as he tossed Henry up to the top to deal with the second of the Batomys' engines. Yet the giant blasted away at the Edelweiss though, causing some damage, yet also causing critical damage to Donald and a couple of the other shocktroopers from Squad 7. Henry transformed into his grey armored suit and disabled the second engine as well. To his surprise he also wielded in his right hand as well a red-black keyblade as he said to Victor, "What is this thing? It just suddenly appeared when I was attacking the Batomys."

Victor could only laugh at this as he said, "It means you have a new power my friend as a key wielder. That's two engines so far." Yet before there could pleasantries occurring, Selvaria appeared back near where the troops of Squad 7 were attacking the Batomys and called out to Victor, "Call down your troops. Otherwise you will all fall at the hands of my power." Victor then gritted his teeth thinking, 'Damn. She came back too soon. We'll have to hurry.' Luckily Welkin destroyed all the canons on the Batomys and only had its main front nozzle left to attack. Meanwhile, Victor told Sora and Henry to disable the last engine as he would go off to face Selvaria and her reinforcements with Alicia, Rosie and Largo. As they did so, Sora and Henry disabled the last engine with no problem at all as Victor plowed through the shocktroopers with very little trouble at all. Yet Selvaria had injured and blew away many of Squad 7's troops as she approached Victor. She did battle with him clashing her lance and his Sword of Light together. As she did, Selvaria began to glow blue as did her lance and shield and her eyes turned a bright red color rearing for battle.

Victor of course increased his power to 20% and kicked and bruised Selvaria twenty feet away from him. He then increased his power up to a staggering 80% sensing her great power as they clashed again once more near the Barious Ruins. Victor uppercutted Selvaria into the air as launched herself down towards him, kicked him high into the air and carved a huge hole into armor. They slashed left, right, left and then right as the blasts from each hit created more rubble near the cliffs and rocks of the area. They seemed evenly matched for the time being. Victor slashed Selvaria some more, with many of his slashes striking her lance and her shield with devastating effects as they struck the ground casuing mighty earthquakes to shatter the area into utter chaos. Then, Selvaria got a glimpse of Victor's power as he approached her quickly and grabbed her neck before she could even move. 'This power. How is he doing this? My troops have retreated and yet we have the upper hand. How is it he can do this?'

Victor slammed Selvaria to the ground used his powers to slash and tear away at her lance and shield weakening her quite a bit. Sora, Henry, Donald and the Edelweiss meanwhile began blasting away at the Batomys nearly destroying it. Sora then pointed his keyblade towards it with Henry and together zapped the machine and it came to a grinding halt. Selvaria then slashed at Victor's armor and jumped right over him attempting to slam him to the ground. She quickly realized as Victor grabbed her neck once more she was outmatched for the time being as he said, "Lesson one here my dear. Never underestimate your competition." Victor then threw her back and walked away raising his Sword of Light into the sky shining in her face as a sign of defeat. Yet even as this happened the Edelweiss appeared just twenty feet away from her as Victor was walking away and shot a blast right at her. She deflected it with her lance and another blast from the tank with her shield as it moved around in a spiral. Alicia said surprised, "Did you see that? She deflected a tank shell." Welkin then said, "Such power." Selvaria then said gritting her teeth at her loss and the approaching Squad 7, "hm…I see Gallia's peasant army has the will to win." She then turned to her troops and said, "All units, retreat. Protect his grace at all costs." She turned around and walked away and they all ran off retreating to the far ends of the Barious Desert. As they did so, Victor called out, "I went easy on you this time Selvaria. Next time I'm coming for you and your little friend, Maximillian, as well."

Even as the battle ended, Largo and the others were astounded at such power that Victor as well Henry and Sora possessed. They later explained about the keyblade's ability to lock and unlock hearts, destroy and save worlds and Victor explained about his Sword of Light and its incredible power thanks to his imagination. Victor also explained how Selvaria was a Valkyrur herself when Faldio caught up and explained how she destroyed the troops in the east just as easily "You guys are going to be hailed as heroes for this. Not only did you face Selvaria and Maximillian, but you also have gained us quite a lot of ground here in Barious Desert.", Alicia said. "But not without our costs of battle either. So many of us are injured enough as it is and to make matters worse we did not expect the leader of the Imperial forces to be there either.", Welkin replied. Alicia then said, "Not just the commander. Maximillian had that woman with him as well, Selvaria I think is what Victor called her right?" Victor nodded when she asked him with Sora and Henry at his left and right side. "What was she? I can't believe she's human.", Alicia continued.

Victor then shook his head as he said, "I fear this is just the beginning though. The Squadron is assisting the Empire and it will become more important that we stay together. Maximillian and Selvaria won't take defeat lightly." Welkin asked Victor, "Say Victor, how did you know about Maximillian and Selvaria if I may ask?" Victor pausing a moment thought of the best way to tell Welkin as he said, "Well he is the commander of the Empire so word gets out quickly especially in the MVC. Plus I know about Selvaria from my world. I know she is bad news, to never be taken lightly. Faldio and I were talking earlier before we left to attack the Batomys and Faldio and I agreed completely. Selvaria could only have been the Valkyria of legend to wield such a lance and a shield to strike down a bullet, let alone a tank shell." The group was still stuck in disarray over the matter as they began their trek back to Randgriz.

Even as they headed back to Randgriz on a fine job well done, Adelip then thought hiding amongst the cliffside rubble from Victor's fight, "Very interesting. So Victor's power is all about strategic dependence on a child's imagination then is it? Sirion will be most pleased with my work here today." Adelip then summoned a blue portal and escaped as quickly as he could before being spotted by Faldio who ran as fast as he could to warn Victor. Later on back at Ghirlandaio Fortress, where the stronghold of the Imperials was being temporarily held after besieging it some time ago, Maximillian called together his top generals together, Selvaria, Jaegar, and Gregor together to discuss the new posing threat to their dominance in Europa. "Tell us Selvaria, what was that boy's power like exactly?", Maximillian requested. "It was similar to my powers, but very much different in that he did not use power like I did. He used his mind, body and soul in an equal harmony together to defeat me. I am ashamed I did not factor his strength as it were. We could have won easily if it weren't for that." Maximillian then continued, "Aside from all of that I feel as though we'd best prepare for the next time we meet such a foe. It is already come to my attention from Adelip of the Squadron that the boy is not of this world. He is but a legendary guardian wielding a power that is vastly superior to Selvaria. The Marmota will have to be finished in due time thanks to all of these failures."

Adelip then said approaching Maximillian and bowing to him, "Perhaps I can be of some assistance my liege." Selvaria noticed his blue hood and his rugged look as he kissed Maximillian's right hand (as what anyone would do for an emperor) and Gregor asked, "Who might you be young man?" "Why I am part of the Squadron of course. We of course would love you all to be part of our grand plans to conquer the universe. First I'll help you guys get rid of Gallia and conquer this world and then we will storm the Eternal Beyond together as a united force and capture the Moon of Eternity. With its great power, you my great Maximillian and your generals here would rein on this planet and others for all eternity.", Adelip continued. "An interesting bargain I should say. I would disagree since this is not a universal affair, but you do seem to know a lot about this 'MVC' and that boy that has declared war on the Empire itself. Should you gain any new information about that boy and his friends as well as Welkin and his friends, let either me or anyone else here know and we will reward you handsomely.", Maximillian said. Selvaria handed Adelip a chest of gold of and other jewels as he stood confidently smiling, "Just you wait Victor. This is only the beginning.", Adelip said.

(A crazy chapter indeed. Victor of course faced off against Selvaria!!! What a turn out. We also see that the Squadron is now in a partnership with the Imperials as well to make things even more interesting as well. What sort of powers does Adelip have you might say? Since I am sort of basing him after Demyx, he will have powers over water, but with clever twist though. He also isn't as cowardly as Demyx either and will play huge role in later chapters in this segment of the Eternal Beyond as well. More yet to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Separated (part 1).)

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	42. Chapter 41

Separated (part 1)

Squad 7 along with Victor and co. began heading back to Randgriz, but made a temporary pit stop in the middle of the Kloden Forest. This caused some mild concern as Largo said, "I'm worried, boss…the scouts were due back an hour ago and we haven't heard a thing." Alicia added, "Welkin we should take a look, the enemy could be closer than we think." Victor decided to tag along just in case as did Henry, leaving Sora and Donald behind keeping a watchful eye on Isara as Victor had commanded.

{Flashback}

'Victor along with Sora, Henry and Donald surrounded by a few yellow and green tents of Squad 7 asleep during the nighttime breeze and darkness, circled around a small fire pit, discussing about their journey and their various experiences through it all. "You know what puzzles me Victor?", Sora asked the boy in his white armor. "What would that be Sora?", Victor replied. "All this time we keep fighting the Squadron and yet we seem to get in all sorts of odd trouble without them.", the brunette explained.

"Well how can we expect to keep going on like this? I knew coming back to this time period was a bad idea. For all we know we could have changed history, made the universe collapse on itself in our time period.", Donald said with great regret. "But we can't leave these guys now. We told them we'd help them out, and that's what we should do, right Victor?", Henry asked with his bright eyes gleaming in the darkness. Victor was thinking in space about his travels and the first person that came to mind was Anastasia and her safety, followed by Henry and Isara Gunther. Victor hearing his name from Sora shook his head and said, "What matters is that we be as discrete as possible. We'll keep going and help Squad 7 and all of Gallia, even if it means I have to dive into a bucket of slime and goo. If you've forgotten Donald the Squadron is here and we have to stop them here before they get a foothold. Whatever happens I want Henry with me throughout the next few days to Randgriz. Sora, you and Donald are to guard Isara at all costs, do you understand?" Sora nodded as Henry got into a yellow tent five feet from Donald as Donald duck said, "Why is Isara so important?"

"Because Donald, she reminds me a lot Anastasia. Plus I told you and Sora like two nights ago about her fate in Northern Gallia.", the boy continued. Donald nodded as Sora said looking to the stars, "I hope Riku and Kairi are okay." Victor went to sleep as did Sora, Donald remained and thought to himself, 'I just hope Victor doesn't place too much priority over a lost cause.' With that he too went to sleep.'

{Present}

Victor, Henry, Alicia and Welkin walked to the edge of a cliffside and took a look out far past the woods towards the mountains along the horizon. Largo and the others heard a distinct sound in the air. A rocket fired from a distance and aimed towards their temporary campsite. It hit ten feet from the group at the cliffside and sent Welkin, Alicia, Henry and Victor over the edge. Sora and Largo as well as Donald and Isara saw smoke blanket the cliffs, as both Sora and Isara raced for the edge to find their lost comrades. Largo held out his hand over them and told them to wait.

Largo then said shaking Sora and Isara to their senses, "Where are you going? Don't be idiots! Who's going to protect us if you run off like that? And who's going to drive the tank if you get hurt." Rosie and Donald held out their weapons preparing for fire as Donald said, "We'd better move! Now!" "We're going to be dead in two minutes if we don't get going.", Rosie added. Sora then took out his keyblade as he told Largo, "You get everyone out of here as fast as you can. I'll take care of these bozos." Largo looked at the young boy as he smiled confidently and transformed into his golden armor. Largo nodded as he got everyone to move as Sora approached the army of Empire soldiers and hooded men encircling the lone boy with his keyblade and fake Sword of Light.

Meanwhile, Victor waking up first from unconsciousness soon woke Welkin and the others with him as Welkin asked, "Where are we?" "Apparently blown off course. That gunman has got a good shot. He could have killed us had been more closer.", Victor said. Welkin then mentioned that there were still Imperials around and that soon enough they'd all be caught if they weren't careful. Alicia also got a wound on her leg from the fall and thus her movement would be slower than usual. So thus Victor and the others began their trek through the clearing of thick forest towards the nearby river. Alongside which was a bridge. Sadly there were searchlights everywhere surrounding the entire area of dark forest and foothills. "Great, if we get caught by those searchlights, they'll blow the entire nearby area around them to bits with the mortars.", Welkin continued. Victor snapped his fingers as he said, "Oh really?"

Sure enough, they became invisible to which Alicia said, "I like it. You know invisibility?" "It all comes with the powers Alicia. I know I should have let Welkin tell to do so, but…" Victor said. "No no no, it's terrific Victor. You really saved us some time here. Now let's get out of this place. I saw a cabin on the way up the hill we were on. It looked abandoned so we could stay there for the night.", Welkin continued. They snuck past the searchlights with ease thanks to Victor's imagination and quick wit. Henry also did his part sniping the guards that got too suspicious in the dense thickets and underbrush. Sure enough they reached a cabin to rest up for the night.

"So how's your wound Alicia?", Welkin asked setting down their guns on a nearby table right beside the door of the cabin. "It's okay Welkin.", Alicia said. "Well let's get some medicine for that just in case…", Welkin continued. "That's nothing Welkin. Let me take care of this.", Victor said. He chanted his Russian healing verse and sure enough Alicia's wound was gone to their surprise. Alicia shocked and lying on the cold wooden ground of the cabin asked, "How did you do that?" Henry then went on to say, "Victor's a knight! He can do anything! He can fly, fight, protect. He's a celebrity pretty much from my world. That's why he's my hero." Victor smiled as Henry said this and Welkin looked at the boy in his black shirt and blue jeans observing Henry's chatter to Alicia.

Alicia asked Victor, "Where did you learn that phrase? I don't think I've heard it before." Victor paused again thinking about his days in Canada and remembered how he had a passion for culture and explained his days occasionally alone and his days as a super hero. "I began learning Russian ever since in high school. It has helped me a lot I should say. It kept me busy and I saved a lot of lives like that.", Victor continued. "That's quite a story there. Henry's story too is pretty interesting. What's it like being a Capulet?", Welkin asked.

"It sure isn't easy. I have to do all sorts of political issues for my planet and I have many goodwill missions to participate in as well that eats up my time. The only time I had for myself was playing soccer with my friends and this entire adventure with Victor and Sora. It's going to be tough to go back after this is all done.", Henry went on to say. As they all rested, especially Victor since he used a lot of energy from his 'invisibility effect' Welkin started talking about his special healing herbs and after a few minutes was asked by Alicia, "So Welks. What got you interested in nature in the first place?"

"Well I don't know. I guess it had a lot to do with my dad's influence.", Welkin replied. "General Gunther's?", Henry asked. "Yeah, whenever he came home we'd go bug collecting in the mountains or swimming. Somewhere along the way going on those trips turned into a love of nature for me too.", Welkin continued. Alicia then said, "The general out collecting bugs. That's…unexpected." Welkin then continued, "Yeah, he was always seen as a brave military hero. He did have his share of worries though." Victor perked up from his slumber at this sound. "My mother died as a casualty of the First Europan War. I don't think dad ever got over the fact that he couldn't protect her.", Welkin continued. Victor once again saw Anastasia in his thoughts, smiling at him and waving to him. Victor held his pride high listening to Welkin's conversation. "But everyone was always praising him for being a great hero. The war won him respect and adulation, but cost him the love of his life. I think that weighed on him was what he fought the war for. But when he was out in the woods with me he was always so happy. Maybe I fell in love with nature because it always put the smile back on my dad's face."

Again Victor tried to hold his pride, too embarrassed to talk when Henry asked Victor, "Are you okay?" Victor just looked at the stars. Welkin could only chuckle a little at this as he said, "I guess Victor's got some other ideas on his mind. You and my dad aren't so different you know that?" Victor heard this and nodded. Victor then said, "It's getting late. We should get some rest." They all nodded as they soon fell asleep. Henry found some old blankets in a nearby bedroom closet big enough for two people. They all huddled together for warmth, Alicia with Welkin and Victor with Henry not minding about their closeness.

Noises rustled in the air outside as something crept closer to the old dusty cabin. It aroused Victor and soon enough Welkin as well. They awoke Henry and Alicia as this happened as the door opened. It was an Imperial soldier walking slowly into the old wooden cabin. He got closer and walked over the 5 by 2 white blanket covering the floor near the coal black fire pit just two feet behind Henry. "Freeze!", Welkin said aiming his gun to the soldier. The man collapsed on the ground as Alicia asked, "Ah! Welkin wha…" Henry panicked into Victor's arms as the boy said. "This man's been badly injured. I'm surprised he can walk at all.", Welkin asked. A small murmur from the man occurred as he faintly said, "Help me!" "Welkin, Victor. Do something!" Alicia proclaimed. Hours passed through the thicket of the night. "Well?", Henry asked.

"I can't heal him. It's a whole set of gun wounds and I'm still learning about treating those. My chant won't be of any help here.", Victor said. Welkin also tried his herbal medicine and nothing better happened from it either. "It's no use the wound's way too deep.", The youthful soldier said in regret. "It hurts. It's so dark. Oh god… mother mother.", the soldier said in fear. He was a blonde man delirious and in pain, no one to comfort him. Yet Alicia, of all people held his hand and kept him calm. She stroked his head as he said, "It's okay. Don't be afraid. Mother's right here. Everything's fine. See?" Victor saw a flashback of his own mother from a long time ago. Those exact words chilled his bones to the core. He saw a man in brown clothing and a woman in pink clothing replacing his sight of Welkin and Alicia. They were his memories of his mother and father reminding him of his time as a little helpless boy thirteen years ago. The blonde soldier reassured said, "Yes, it's…" Sadly he died just moments later. Alicia held her tears back for a bit before she could burst. Henry already began crying into Victor's arms as he thought to himself, 'Why now? Why must of all my memories be of my parents right now? Why?' "Mother…", the brunette boy said. Welkin held Alicia as did Victor with Henry literally shaken up by this event. The morning would prove no different when they would awaken to an odd surprise.

(A very long chapter. I'm going to start skimming through to the good parts as quickly as possible and just skip out on some of the less important missions of this game since it still involves the Squadron. Victor, like Chris, in this chapter saw his parents of course as Welkin and Alicia. Why you might ask? Let's just say it has a lot to do with the ending to this story. Also I should add, I have been getting some odd private reviews about what happened to my mom and dad since in another one of my stories (the Perfect Trio) these kids parents die of pneumonia and would like to tell those odd people odd, they're not dead first of all and to add its only a fanfic. I added that odd detail to add for that story's effect and dark tone for the intro. Either way I digress, I'm moving on. More yet to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: Separated (part 1).)

(Review.)


	43. Chapter 42

Separated (part 2)

Sora on the other hand had his hands full as he slashed and tore away at many Imperial soldiers. He paced himself quickly and sliced ten men in one slash, then did a back flip and knocked out another ten men as well in a single slash. They still kept coming though even as Squad 7 began to leave away from the area, he still kept launched his keyblade in the air, thrashed many Squadron members three to four times with his 'fake' Sword of Light and then jumped to reach his keyblade as he zapped the ground around him, scaring away the other men.

He then came face to face with Adelip. Just a mere two feet away in the tiny forest clearing, he locked his sights on Sora and his golden armor as he took out a samurai like sword from his side holder. "You guys got a lot of nerve butting into stuff that isn't your business.", the blue hooded Demyx lookalike said. He walked closer to Sora and reached his sword under Sora's neck to penetrate his neck. Sora then kicked Adelip's sword down below his waist and kneed him in his gut. Sora then slashed him many times with his keyblade, but sadly noticed he wasn't hurt or damaged at all. Sora then asked shocked, "What are you?"

"I'm a Squadron member that's who boy. I have the element of water and as such can rejuvenate myself with my own special power.", Adelip replied. Adelip powered his samurai weapon with his own two hands and dashed right at Sora. He kicked his keyblade aside and sliced right at his armor a staggering twenty times. Then Adelip kicked his chest hard right near his left rib and punched Sora smack right in his forehead sending him right through three trees as the poor boy was gaining critical damage.

Meanwhile not too far away from where Sora was fighting, Squad 7 was recuperating from fleeing in the midst of the foothills and it slowly drove at their patience for Sora, let alone finding their missing comrades. Rosie ran to Largo coming from the bushes and asked, "You find the boss and Alicia yet?" "Naw, still nothin'.", Largo said snapping a tree branch in front of him. Isara was fixing up the Edelweiss with her tools, oil splattering her face and dust from the soil wrecking her uniform all the way. Rosie approached her and asked angrily, "Isara. How 'bout you quit messing around and help us look?" Isara rose from her work and insisted, "The Edelweiss still requires maintenance." Rosie annoyed at Isara and with no interruption from Victor said, "Your own brother's gone missing here and you'd rather be doing maintenance work than look?" Isara was disgruntled clenching her lips, but brushed anger aside to say, "It's because he's missing that I'm doing this. We have no idea when he'll be back, but…Making sure the Edelweiss is ready for him is the best thing I can do for him right now."

Rosie dismissed the matter leaving Isara be just as Largo said ignoring the cold breeze coming from the mountains, "I hear what you're saying. Just be sure to rest up while you can. You been workin' since first thing this morning. You're Squad 7's only tank pilot. You pass out on us and we're all toe up, hear me? Getting a good night's rest is another thing you can do for your brother right now." Isara smiled at this as she said, "You're right. Thanks for the advice Largo." Oddly enough, beneath Largo's tough exterior he flushed a little and said, "Oh yeah…sure." Soon after he left with Rosie to do head count of their squad.

The next day came with some tears and sorrow as Welkin and Alicia buried the Imperial soldier that died right before their eyes the other night. Five feet deep in the ground, thanks to a few shovels in a nearby tool shed not too far from the old wooden cabin, a wooden stick with the soldier's helmet stuck right on top of it signified his grave in the dirt. Alicia then said in a tone of sorrow, "Welkin I… I couldn't do anything for that poor man. He was calling out for help, but… All I could do was watch him die." Victor held Henry as the poor boy also shed a few tears on the spot for the soldier. "That's not true. You helped him in only a way you could Alicia. The look on his face when he passed on wasn't one of pain.", Welkin said bleakly cheering up Alicia. "No, I guess you're right. Thanks Welkin. I'd always thought of the Imperials as monsters out to kill Gallians…But they're just as human as we are huh? With families of their own to fight for." Victor sighed as Welkin said, "Yeah… they are."

"It's like the war begun and we all forgot that. It's so simple, but…if we all weren't at war right now, that man might be back with his family right now.", the poor girl pleaded. Victor shook his head staring into the white clouds just hovering around the nice clear sunny day that covered the landscape. "Hey you guys. Did I ever tell that I don't have one? A family that is. I grew up in an orphanage. I don't even know my parent's names.", Alicia continued. "No, you didn't.", Welkin responded calmly. "But maybe I'm actually lucky…I mean if you don't ever know your family, you can't ever lose them. I guess being alone has its perks… Heh heh.", Alicia added. Victor spat at the ground hearing this and said, "Believe me if you were in my shoes Alicia you wouldn't be saying that. You know you're not alone." Alicia and Henry looked up at Victor whose brown acorn eyes were glowing as bright as candles when the sun shone down upon him and his chestnut brown hair. "He's right. You got Me, Is, Henry here, Victor, Sora, Donald and everyone in Squad 7. We're a family now.", Welkin added whilst smiling.

"Squad 7 a family?", Alicia said. "That's right. I'm like the dad, you the mom, Isara and Rosie are daughters and Largo is the grandpa. Come on can't you see it?", Welkin added. Alicia chuckled at the last part as she said, "Heh…if Largo heard that just now you know he'd kick your butt." Victor then said, "The point is that family is not just about blood relations. In fact I'd like to give you guys these…" Victor tossed two five karat golden medals to Welkin and Alicia that read: MVC elite member. "They're MVC medallions. They count as memberships into our organization of the MVC itself, congratulations. You guys are now part of our family as well." Welkin smiled at Victor and his generosity as did Alicia as she said, "All right then…and thanks, Welkin, Victor."

Noises rustled from the light green bushes in front of the cabin as Victor drew out his Sword of Light as did Henry draw out his grey sword preparing for battle. Welkin then said, "Something's coming." From the thickets, came Sora in his regular clothes from Kingdom Hearts 2, beat up tired and injured from head to toe. He collapsed after walking a few steps and landing on Victor's white star shiny shoes. Alicia then yelled, "Oh no, Sora!" Yet before anything could be done, Victor chanted his Russian phrase and healed Sora quickly. As Welkin took out his herbal medicine he asked Victor, "But why didn't it work the other night on the other soldier?" Victor laid Sora down in the cabin for a few minutes as he replied turning on a few lights in the building, "It's as I said before. I'm no good with gunshot wounds yet. The gunpowder has some sort shielding that blocks my imagination and its healing powers. I know I'm close to figuring it out, but I need more time to practice things out." Welkin sighed as Sora came to and opened his bright blue eyes to notice Alicia and Henry smiling at his rapid recovery. Victor then asked Sora, "How are you holding up? You were pretty beat up back there old friend. It would seem as if you got the stuffing kicked out of ya." Sora recalled from his memory exactly what happened.

{Flashback}

Adelip slashed away at Sora using his samurai sword and summoned typhoons and hurricanes to surround Sora as the poor lad was struggling on the ground to stand up at all. His keyblade as he noticed was a foot away and even as he grabbed it had no energy at all to get up. Adelip grabbed the poor lad by his shirt collar and raised him to his level and laughed aloud. "How could you ever be chosen for anything? You're a pathetic wannabe. I'm surprised you ever made it this far at all against a force like Organization XIII. You're mine now.", Adelip said confidently. Sora chuckled under his breath catching Adelip's attention as the man asked, "What's so funny? You lost Sora. I got you right where I want you. I did everything right this time: I didn't underestimate my opponent as other bad guys do, I stayed confident, I even saved my power and let up no weaknesses." Sora then stabbed Adelip right square blank in his heart with his keyblade there and then. "You made a mistake just now Adelip. You guys shouldn't have tried to attack my friends.", the boy exclaimed in anger.

Adelip dropped Sora as he collapsed on the ground and dissolved away into nothingness while his heart floated away in the air. He also noticed the many Squadron fleet ships soar away into the skies as Adelip failed his mission to defeat Sora. Yet the poor boy was critically injured. His knees were bruised, his armor disappeared when the battle ended, his whole chest ached from the kicks Adelip landed on him, and even his entire face was brutally scarred from Adelip and his powers over water. Yet the boy stumbled through the woods as best he could, avoiding thorns, steep cliffs and rugged terrain. Sure enough the next day he was near the cabin that Victor and others were sleeping in and not a moment too soon. He was severely exhausted and wounded as he rustled a few branches and twigs and caught Victor's attention beside the dead soldier's grave.

{Present}

Sora told Victor everything about Adelip he knew. After finishing him off he got Adelip talking and Adelip revealed there wasn't much time left as they had everything they needed now to open the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility and the only thing left for them to retrieve was Henry, the Oracle of Destiny. Victor then said gritting his teeth, "Dang they're fast workers. At least they fled this world though. Perhaps we'll be able to put our feet up once we get back to the others. Can you move a little?" Sora nodded as he got up and the others packed their things and left the cabin and the gravesite for good heading across the cliffs and soon enough to Squad 7 and their whereabouts near the base of the foothills. Isara popped out of the Edelweiss to notice this and said, "It's them!! Thank heavens it's them." The entire squad overheard this and ran out to greet Welkin, Alicia, Henry and Victor from their sudden reappearance from the deep forest. All was well once more for Squad 7.

(A bold chapter I should say. I made Adelip sort of like Demyx, but with a twist in that he was more like a samurai with water like powers. To sum things up, he had a good, but short run as a Squadron member. There's still more to come. So stay tuned.) 

(Next Time: Princess Cordelia.)

(Review.)


	44. Chapter 43

Princess Cordelia

It was a strange night once the group got back from the Kloden Wildwoods. Back in Squad 7's barracks, Victor was sleeping in his own office like spacious room with Henry in bunk beds: one had a blue sleeping bag and the other with a green sleeping bag. Naturally Victor chose the blue one and Henry chose the green one. Yet it wasn't the room that was so strange or the curtains which were dark green. It wasn't even the fact had the top bunk and Henry the bottom bunk. It was a dream that that boy had.

In this dream, Victor was surrounded by green luscious beautiful meadow. Surrounding the meadow were tall birch and pine trees along with a gorgeous rainbow rising and falling along the horizon of the area. Anastasia, Victor's girlfriend and ironically his guardian angel, stood at the center of the meadow looking at the clouds passing by. The charcoal brown brunette ran as fast as he could to meet the girl always liked. He smiled once he got to her and gave Anastasia the biggest hug imaginable. He then said, "Oh my dear. I was so worried about you. When I heard the squadron got you I just didn't know what to…" Anastasia was the opposite in feeling though. She closed her eyes and said in sorrow, "How could you?" "Um…how could I what?", the boy asked with some confusion. "How could you just forget me like that? You've been just thinking about that girl…Isara. I'm captured for two months and it's like I've been forgotten.", the girl said going on the verge of tears.

Victor's mind clicked the second she said this and said, "Oh no no no. It's nothing like that Anastasia. I've been doing what I can to rescue you. It's just…" "It's just that you've found someone else is what it is. I understand though Victor. You'd rather just have a girl that you actually see without having to be burdened. Goodbye my love.", Anastasia sad with tears rolling down her cheek. The girl kissed Victor on his lips and then hugged him before running away into the woods with Victor calling her name, "Anastasia, wait!! Don't go!!" Victor too was on the verge of tears, just as he woke up to a brand new day. Dawn was breaking throughout the city of Randgriz. In Victor's spacious office room, the sun was rising from his side and shone straight into his face as the boy pondered for a minute. 'That dream…was it real? Do I really have to choose between Isara and Anastasia?' "I believe you do boy.", a voice proclaimed.

"Who said that?", Henry asked awakening and Victor looked down beside the bunkbed and there was his old teacher and old nemesis of old: Devil. The purple lookalike demon of Kazuya (of the Teken Series of course) looked upon Henry with his yellow eyes and the boy soon cowered beneath his sheets to hide his face and asked Victor, "Vic, who is this guy?" "Trouble.", Victor said. Devil laughed as the boy said this and replied, "A long time ago I was once your tutor and we even beat the Ultimate Five together and still you have this hatred for me." "Probably because you wanted the same thing everybody from my hometown back then wanted as well: utter dominance over me and to see me whimper and fail. You adults are all the same: no guts and no glory.", Victor continued. "Mock me as you wish, but Anastasia is still in peril. I of course know this because of my many travels since I last saw Sora during the destruction of Radiant Garden by Darkness. Irony is he is also with you, hm?", Devil continued. "Get to the point Devil.", Victor said. "My point is you are playing the hands of fate my boy. The Ultimate Five also played fate once before and was the reason why I disbanded myself from their operations. Fate is the one thing that sets us on our course of purpose and meaning. Without it the human race as you know it would not have survived for as long as it has today.", Devil said.

All the while, Sora and Donald having awoken from before were overhearing this and Devil kept going. "Anastasia of course is your guardian angel, but unfortunately you have a decision to make in terms of choosing which girl you would rather keep at your side: your beloved redhead Guardian Angel or the sweet innocent Darksen? It's up to you really. To get you started, that dream you just had was not real. You see I learned to read minds and dreams since our final battle back in 2005. Take your time though on this decision Victor. It may indeed be the most important one you'll ever make." As Devil disappeared and Donald and Sora appeared, keyblade and golden armor Victor just shook his head at this display. Victor then told Sora and Donald the situation as Sora then said, "That's not fair at all. If Isara is in trouble we ought to do what we can to help her out. Fate or not, she doesn't deserve death." Victor sitting on his bunk just chuckled as he said this and replied, "Yes it's not fair Sora. But in the end it could risk some things in the future as well. I don't need to remind you what 'killing a butterfly in the past' would do the present. For all I know it means someone else I know might take Isara's place, not necessarily Anastasia but anyone I know. I'll save her, but I'll make sure that we find Anastasia and the other Princesses of Life before all is lost."

Luckily though, the pressures weren't as high for our heroes as they were called on an off duty day. Victor, Welkin and Faldio were called into Captain Varrot's office. It was completely different than the other rooms since hers had a carpet that resembled the Gallian Flag in many ways, a huge shelf filled with books, letters and other ornaments and a desk filled with so much junk no man or woman could bear the thought of even opening one tiny cupboard door. "Princess Cordelia has graciously extended banquet invitations to the four of us: She was informed about the MVC's presence in our world and wants you there in person my dear boy.", Cpt. Varrot said. "Okay, I realize about why Victor needs to be there, but why us?", Welkin asked. "It seems you two will be recognized for your successes at Vasel and more recent ops. The event will be held tomorrow at the castle.", Cpt. Varrot continued. "Oh, I'm not really good with the formal stuff.", Welkin said. "What are you crazy? Do you have any idea how rare a chance it is to meet the princess? They say that House Randgriz, the Archdukes of Gallia, are descended from the Valkyrur. If that's true then Princess Cordelia herself is a Valkyrur and we get an audience with her. Even Victor will get to have a chance to have a private conversation with the princess and her adviser.", Faldio said.

"Well yeah, I guess…", Welkin said. "Just remember to wear dress uniforms gentlemen. I'll be waiting at Castle Randgriz just before the event begins. You're dismissed until then.", Cpt. Varrot concluded. Victor then left without hesitation or a word to Welkin let alone Faldio. Welkin then asked Faldio as Victor shut the door loudly, "What's eating him?" Faldio shook his head and said, "Who knows? He is an interplanetary being after all. This group, the 'MVC' has the greatest of all jobs in the known universe: to protect everything in it so he might have a lot of pressures to deal with on his mind. Victor left Cpt. Varrot a letter indicating he would be a bit 'fashionably late' for the evening festivities, but would be on time for the awards for success in Vasel and the missions in other regions of Gallia. Victor soon caught up to Sora in his tiny room which was no different from his room except that the sleeping bags were orange (Sora took this one) and black (Donald oddly enough chose this one). Victor told the brunette, "I want you to look after Henry for the next little while alright Sora?" Sora nodded and said with a thumb up, "Sure thing buddy. You can count on me." Victor smiled as Sora said this and replied, "That's what I like about you Sora. You have a calm demeanor and a wonderful attitude. I'm not surprised why Kairi likes you. Anyways I should be back in a little while and if Donald asks, tell him we'll discuss the business about Devil later." Sora nodded once again as Victor left the room in a bit of a hurry. Sora thought to himself as he drifted into space, 'Don't worry Victor. I'll do whatever I can to help you find Anastasia and rescue her. You can bet on that.'

Victor soon arrived near the Throne Room of Castle Randgriz, surrounded by 20 foot wide balcony, a red carpet with golden square piece lets and a set of two candles by each door along the top floor of the castle. Victor arrived before Cpt. Varrot, Welkin and Faldio saying, "Hello friends, sorry I'm late." "Hey Victor, you're just in time. Ms. Ellet here was just saying that an ambassador to the Federation was going to be here for the festivities as well.", Welkin said smiling to the boy dressed in his white armor and a white robe covering his back. "So as I was saying, I smell an alliance at work between Gallia and the Federation.", Ms. Ellet said. "But I thought Gallia's foreign policy was to shun alliances and remain neutral.", Faldio proclaimed. "I figure it's mostly the idea from Prime Minister Borg, Princess Cordelia's regent. He's just using her youth as a way for him and the other nobles to do whatever they want. With all due respect the princess isn't much but a mouthpiece for his policies now.", Ms. Ellet said. "It's about time to enter. Let's go.", Cpt. Varrot said.

As Victor and the others entered inside, Victor couldn't help but fall in love with the Throne Room and its entire splendor. It had a curved roof with the exact same roof styling of Beast's Ballroom (from Beast's Castle) and a huge mix of Golden brick and white brick walls and floorings surrounded the area. Like the Disney Castle Throne Room, there were many banners (blue and white in color of course) representing Randgriz. Soldiers in dressed uniform formed a lineup on the left and right of the blue carpeting stretching from the princess' throne to the entrance. Victor stood near the entrance itself, waiting to be called up for his private audience with Princess Cordelia. Prime Minister Borg, a man of at least thirty devious looking 'dirty blonde' with a snide mustache and a goatee and in blue cloth stood at the Princess Cordelia's left and the ambassador of the Federation, a man of sixty with a white beard and wearing white clothes with a red zipperline stood at her right. The Princess Cordelia, a woman in a mix of blue and white robes stood from her blue crystal throne, her pointed lance/scepter in her left hand and wearing her light crown with 'wings' on each end and a horn at its center.

"Honorable ladies and gentlemen. If I may… I appear before you today at the peak of joy. For on this day two powers join together, Gallia and the Federation pledge their allegiance as we seek to build an eternal peace for Europa.", Princess Cordelia said. Prime Minister Borg also continued for her, "Know this that that very peace we enjoy now is currently under attack and hangs by the thinnest thread you can imagine. But while Princess Cordelia remains on the throne, who is the scion of the Ancient Valkyrur blood promise, this nation will never be defeated. Is that not so, princess?", he asked her snidely. Victor looked upon the man with disgust and glared right at him with little respect when he heard this. "Yes…I draw my strength from the Valkyrur bloodline and my heart is a repository of justice.", Princess Cordelia continued. Victor continued to overhear this situation and felt sorry for the girl. She was caught between a snake and a rat. There was no mistake the Federation was planning on controlling Gallia when the war was over and would conquer Europa the same as the Empire.

The allegiance had been conceived and even as Ellet took a picture of the Ambassador and Prime Minister Borg shaking hands to end that matter, Faldio and Welkin were still a little shaken up about this as well. Victor thought, 'You guys sense it too. These guys up there don't know a tricycle from a wrench and want to invade and literally destroy the Empire itself. Prime Minister Borg then said, "Now then my friends, let's put an end to all these formalities and raise a glass to honor this historic allegiance. Also a toast to our newly encountered guest from another world: Victor. Gallia welcomes the MVC with open arms as well in aiding us in our war efforts." Victor nodded as this was said and moments later left the area to await being called up for his private conversation.

Hours passed by. Victor arrived outside the Throne Room with Welkin and Cpt. Varrot as Welkin asked the boy, "So how did it go Victor? It seemed like forever when you had to go and talk to Prime Minister Borg and Princess Cordelia." "It was a nightmare Welkin. That girl has no freedom at all, just listening to that arrogant pig was hard enough as it was I even told him I wanted to hear what the Princess was thought about all this and he just disregarded it and went on to other matters. He asked for an alliance from myself and plans on using the MVC the same way like Gallia's being used right now, something he'd have to talk to my older brother about before it could be commissioned." Princess Cordelia being right behind Victor said, "Yet I am still young. All political matters are dealed with my regent, Borg."

Victor turned around and bowed to the Princess as he said surprised, "Princess Cordelia! Forgive me and my harsh intrusion your majesty. I admit what I said is true, your regent is pig and a scoundrel, but I say this as a young man of pride and independence as a young child. Borg will not get an alliance from the MVC you can rest assured on that. My older brother will not allow it and will only address you should the need come up for it." Princess Cordelia nodded and continued, "The protection of Gallia need not depend on my personal feelings, but only by the laws that were set forth before me. I bid you once more…good night." Yet just moments after the princess left, General Damon approached Capt. Varrot. He panicked as he said, "Hold it right there Varrot. There's terrible news the Princess has been kidnapped!!" Victor overheard this and said, "Leave this to me. I can get her back. You guys are all exhausted and need your rest." Unsure of whether to let him go alone Welkin asked Victor if it was the best decision and he reassured them all that it was. General Damon then said, "I don't care who does it, just someone get her back." The general left without a moment's peace as he said this into the night. Welkin nodded as he told Victor, "Please be careful will ya?"

Yet as Victor began to head out, Devil arrived with the Princess in his hands and set her down right in from of Cpt. Varrot as Victor summoned his Sword of Light. "What is the meaning of this?", Cpt. Varrot exclaimed. "He's bad news Ms. Varrot. This is Devil, my old fighting tutor and former enemy from my years as an amateur hero. Devil this is Cpt. Varrot, Welkin and the Princess Cordelia whom you just rescued I take it?", Victor asked. "Charmed I'm sure. Yes I did know about Princess Cordelia Victor. For you see that ambassador you all just clinked glasses with is really a spy planning on capturing her or was until I rounded them all up and threw them in the Gallian Dungeons." Cpt. Varrot then said with a quick sigh of relief, "Well at least her majesty is safe and sound at least." Princess Cordelia nodded as she added, "Yes, thanks to this demon's help I am unharmed."

"So what's the catch Devil? Another little hint of advice you want to give me?", Victor asked as Cpt. Varrot and Welkin looked at each other and just shrugged shoulders, not knowing about their past together. "There's no catch Victor. I was curious as to your decision on either rescuing Isara or your beloved Anastasia. Which will it be?", Devil asked. "I chose to do both. I know the consequences of what I will do, but I won't stop until I finish this quest of mine.", Victor said. A short pause soon enveloped the group as Princess Cordelia headed to her bedroom for sleep, once again bidding them all goodnight. "So be it Victor. In fact I shall help you with what you desire since I have been brought back thanks to your good and just spirit. Revenge is not my motive, but be warned though that fate will not look too kindly on your actions." Even as Devil said this and disappeared, Welkin being curious as he was asked Victor what was going on. The boy in his white armor told Welkin he would tell him the situation tomorrow night when they would be alone.

(I know I say this a lot, but what a long chapter. Definitely there is a crazy twist between this world and the rest of the story from Victor's point of view. It makes you think what would you do in this situation: would you choose to save someone you hardly know, but is an innocent and good person or someone you've known your whole life, but risk losing should you rescue the other person? There's more coming to ya along the way so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Land of Fouzen and Berthold Gregor.)

(Review.)


	45. Chapter 44

The Land of Fouzen and Berthold Gregor

Squad 7 along with Victor and co. headed off for the north rocky caverns of Gallia specifically a large industrial city the Gallians called 'Fouzen'. Typically this place was known for being rich in ragnite mines, a source of fuel equivalent to coal and oil back on Earth. Whoever controlled the ragnite mines had an upper hand politically and economically. The green fields and coniferous forests of Randgriz let alone near Kloden were all, but a faint memory as Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry ventured into new lands. Little did they know of the future conflicts that would occur for Rosie let alone the people that worked in those mines. Squad 7's mission was actually very simple: to liberate the city of Fouzen and the area surrounding it from the Empire.

Once they reached the land of Fouzen, it brought shock and horror amongst the group as to what they saw. It wasn't the odd metal crafted buildings built alongside the cliffs of the long deep and treacherous caverns of the area and it certainly was not the long railway track that cut off the rest of the cavern on the other side of Fouzen either. It was indeed the people that worked in the mines. Watching from the giant boulders and rocks that hid their faces, Victor and Sora looked upon many dark brunettes, the Darksens that worked and pillaged through the ragnite mines. More than 3/4s of them looked as if they were starving, exhausted or even brutally assaulted. Sadly, Sora saw a guy trip over his own two feet and get brutally whipped by red armored Empire guard.

"Why? Why would they do such a thing?", Sora asked looking at this scene with dismay. "They don't care Sora. They're filthy cowards is what they are the Empire. They need workers and in times of war this is what happens: the innocent and the poor become slaves and victims while the strong and rich prevail. I know we're supposed to focus on the mission, but there is one man we ought to be on the lookout for: Berthold Gregor. Mark my words he's a man that we must find and bring into our custody if we can. Maybe we can barter him for areas of Gallia if we do.", Victor said with some confidence. "But how? What makes you think they'll just give us the land because we find this guy?", Sora asked again. "Because he is part of the 'Drei Stern' a group of generals that are behind all of these attacks into Gallia. Selvaria Bles, that woman I fought is also part of the Drei Stern too. If we can get one of these guys under our wing, we can put the Empire at a big disadvantage and they'd have no choice but to concede to us.", Victor implied.

"Wow, you really sound like you know what you're doing here. This could save us a lot work in the long run.", Donald said coming up from behind the two boys. "Thanks Donald, it means a lot. I already told Welkin about us taking care of that giant red train there ourselves.", Victor said pointing towards the railway. On the tracks was a gigantic red train that was heavily armed with guns and had a large canon near the front of it. Its shaft was very long (hah) and its range covered the whole area of Fouzen itself. "Sora and I should have no trouble destroying the thing ourselves. It's capturing General Gregor that might be a problem. He's known to be a very crafty man of fighting. He's an aristocrat and known as the 'Devil of the Empire' for his ruthlessness. Rest assured Sora, this guy takes his enemies seriously and he won't go down without a fight." After a few nods, our heroes and Squad 7 infiltrated the city of Fouzen with relative ease especially since it was closer to the evening when their defenses would be down.

Largo, Rosie, Alicia, and Welkin along with Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry entered into one of the many cabins that they had Darksens living in as their home. The stench was utterly atrocious, the people were pale and white as ghosts, and to make the situation even worse was the many sick and coughing people to their left and right. Largo asked in anger, "What the hell is all this?" A little Darksen girl, around Henry's age hid under a bunk bed filthy and pale white and even as Rosie tried to greet her kindly, she ran off to a tall rugged and strong Darksen man. He wore a beige and red bandana, his build was like that of Aladdin: strong as an ox and his clothes were a blue thin shirt and dark pair of pants. His right eyelid was scared making him blind in one eye. As the girl ran to him he ruffled her hair softly and looked up at Welkin and asked, "Man, what brings you folks here? And how'd you get in?" "I am Welkin Gunther. I was told there was a militia sympathizer here.", Welkin said. "Well you heard right. Welkin I'm your guy. The name's Zaka it's nice to meet you." The tall dark brunette held out his hand to get shaken. As Welkin did this, he told the little girl to go to bed since it was late and this was adult matters.

"She's sweet, is she your kid sister?", Sora asked. "Nah. Her parents died a while back. They were victims of torture.", Zaka said regretfully. "Torture? That's horrible!", Alicia said in shock. "Yes, but we got a lot of work to do so let's get moving.", Zaka said. With no time to lose Zaka explained about the armored train the Empire had delivering supplies and acted as defense system for the entire city. It was out of Squad 7's range, but as Victor soon explained it wasn't out of his range let alone Sora's or Henry's. Zaka then said, "So you think you guys can really handle this?" Victor nodded as he said, "It'll be tough handling such a behemoth alone without your guys help, but I'm confident in our abilities especially with this." Sora nodded as he summoned his keyblade right in front of the man and it surprised the entire cabin as they closed in to see what the matter was.

Zaka said in shock, "Woah…now that's something you don't see every day." "It's called a 'keyblade'. Before I met Victor, I would be on adventures that dealt with destroying a group known as the Heartless or the Nobodies. Luckily, we're here and will do what can to help you out as best we can.", Sora said with confidence. Zaka couldn't help, but smile at the kid seeing a sense of goodness from Squad 7 and from their foreign visitors from another world. Victor then asked, "Tell me though. What do you know of a man named Berthold Gregor?" As Victor asked this, the whole cabin ran to their beds in fear and hid their faces as he did so. "He's the one in charge of the train and this production of ragnite mines here. He's the last person I would want to meet before I died. Why on this 'Earth' would you want to find him?", Zaka asked.

"Let's just say that the Empire better not have any other plans cooking up right about now.", Victor said sort of in a snide way. Welkin soon said, "Victor of course wants to capture the general and help us liberate this city. With the general as a hostage we can barter the Empire more of our land back in our hands for his very life. I usually would not go about something like this, but under these tough times we may have no choice, but to do this." Zaka then said, "Well just to be sure as well, I have strapped a bomb to the bridge as we speak. Your friends will wear them out and I'll detonate the entire track and send the train to its doom."

A few minutes later everyone was dismissed, as Sora and Donald went to off to bed to Squad 7's private tent just above the cliffside. In the end next to the wooden table with the operation layout was Rosie, Zaka, Alicia, Welkin and Victor. "So, did you have any questions about the mission then?", Zaka asked smiling. "It's all clear to me.", Victor said. Zaka then pointed to Rosie. "No…I got it.", Rosie said. "Is there something else?", Zaka asked. "…Forget it." Zaka lost his smile as he said, "Oh I get it now. You're wondering if you can trust me because I'm a Darksen, yeah." Rosie remained silent. "If you mind me asking, tell me something you like.", Zaka said. "What?", the redhead asked. "Something you enjoy. There's got to be something right?", Zaka asked. "Singing I guess. I like singing and listening to other folks.", Rosie continued. "A musician huh? Nice. I like singing too. Nothing beats a nice tune and little stroll. Music can pick you up or make you cry. Anthems can drive a country to war. That's the great thing about music, Variety. Every song is different, but it's all good.", Zaka went on.

"…Yeah I guess so. So what are you getting at?", Rosie asked. Victor shook his head and said, "Ha. Rosie my dear I could have heard the message in a bottle and still got it loud and clear. Why hate all the Darksens? Every person is unique and there are plenty of different races, but we're all still people nonetheless." "Besides singing's more fun with a chorus. I agree Zaka, Victor.", Alicia said. "There are over 30,000 beetles in the world, but all of them unique in their own way just like us.", Welkin added to the dismay of Rosie. The group sighed as Welkin made another nature talk, but it made Zaka laugh. "The point is we all are comrades in this war together. Let me tell you something too Rosie. There's a race on my world that guys would call the 'Dark skins' here. They too were mocked and had prejudice smack them in the face too. Yet it was because of a 'Dark skin' that I am who I am today." Rosie remained silent evermore as Welkin looked upon Victor thinking, 'Such a good soul. I could see why that duck and those two other boys would follow him.' "Either way we have a mission to do so let's make nice. We attack at dawn.", Zaka continued.

An hour later, just outside of the cabin, Zaka was outside marveling at the giant nicks and turns of the large steep rocky canyon surrounding Fouzen. A tap came to the man as he turned and nearly flinched. He soon relaxed and saw it was Sora and Victor. "Man you guys kinda scared me a bit. I'm used to being caught off guard by a bunch of these soldiers in the Empire, but this is a first.", Zaka said. "Is what they said really true? Are there concentration camps for Darksens?", Sora asked. "Yes there is Sora. There are hundreds alone in across the area nearby and many more near Kloden. We're tortured day and night working in the mines. All of this because Darksens did not have a homeland to go to.", Zaka said. Victor scraped the ground with his Sword of Light as he said, "Listen…I know how you feel Zaka. Thus I want to make it official. You guys will get your peace. I work with a universal justice organization you might say and we have the authority to grant you guys a country and free you from your pain that is if you want me to. All you have to do is give the word and The MVC is at your service."

Zaka smiled and looked upon Victor and Sora as he said, "So tell me more of this 'keyblade' and that Sword of Light you got there. I heard legends of both from an elder once, but I want to know…what's it like having to wield those things?" a half hour went by as Victor talked about Eternal Beyond and the sword's origin from there and Sora talked of the keyblade and his adventures using it. Zaka then said, "To think this rock here is just a tiny grain of sand compared to these other worlds out there. I know this sounds crazy, but I want to see these other worlds myself now that you mention them. I wanna see them all." Sora smiled and thought of those exact words he told Kairi back in KH 1 himself and Riku to him a long time ago. "I know you will Zaka. Trust yourself and you will get your dream to come true.", Victor said. Before they headed off for bed Zaka caught up to Victor heading back to Squad 7's tent. He tapped his should as began climbing cliffs and said, "Hey Victor. Thanks for that little chat. It's good to see people like you and Sora and Welkin too. My people could use good folks like you nowadays." Victor gave a thumbs up and said, "It's as I said Zaka. I have heard of your race's past and can free you from oppression. I'll give you your own country and make it to your liking. I'll even make you the President of it, Prime Minister or whatever you fancy." Zaka patted him on the back and Victor soon went on his way to catch up to Sora. Tomorrow would be the ultimate test.

(As from what was said here looks like Rosie has some news to chew on at this point. In my life I have been raised by a Filipino for a few years in my life, but they were crucial years nonetheless hence why I like this chapter a lot. I know this story is long, but there is a lot thought I put into this so I went with the flow and did what I could to even it out. More yet to come as I end on that note.)

(Next Time: Henry vs. Berthold Gregor.)

(Review.)


	46. Chapter 45

Henry vs. Berthold Gregor

At the crack of dawn, the attack had begun. Sora and Victor went up towards the tracks where the 'train' was waiting for heavy attack and built for fast maneuvers. Meanwhile Welkin, Alicia, Isara and Largo along with Henry rounded up the Darksen slaves from the concentration camp and began leading them outside away from the general area. Rosie and Zaka took a long route undetected through the Empire's base at Fouzen in order to take out the tracks from underneath. At the last minute, Zaka agreed that to make things easier for Victor and his troops would be to blow up the tracks the train was using to move around along the canyon and let gravity take care of the rest.

What Victor and Sora would be doing was stalling for the time being until further notice. Sora even with his golden armor got blasted by the giant canon and the barrage of machine guns along the sides of the train itself. Meanwhile Victor broke into the behemoth itself and grabbed Berthold Gregor just within a few minutes of entry. Soon enough however, even as the many Darksens retreated to the south of the canyon to escape onto the horizon, Berthold Gregor said taking out a remote explosive device, "Let's see you vermin run from this!!!"

Victor noticed the look in his eyes as he saw the next horrors come into play, just as the Zaka and Rosie reached their target. The train exploded as the tracks supporting it blew open and the train exploded leaving rubble and evacuating imperial troops heading east of the area. Just as that happened, General Gregor's explosives launched a set of tumbling boulders down towards the unsuspecting Darksen slaves and the whole lot of them were crushed by them. Squad 7 noticed this horror, even as Zaka and Rosie returned they shook their heads at this display.

Rosie smacked the ground for what Berthold Gregor did. An hour later, Victor had Berthold Gregor tied up and the group grieved the losses of the Darksen slaves from the camp. Welkin said looking at the fear in an elderly man's eyes as a two ton boulder crushed his stomach, "How could someone do such a thing? More than half of these people were just sick, elderly or even prepubescent children." Rosie hearing this roared as she ran to General Gregor tied to one of his light posts and punched him five times across his face before Isara held her to stop this madness. Even as Rosie looked at the brunette holding her right arm, Isara said, "We're no better than him if we strike him down." Even as she said this, the man laughed spitting out blood and the cold look in his eyes made the Squad uneasy staring at his evil, dastardly crocodile smile.

Henry then asked, "You think it's funny to kill innocent people General Gregor?" The man laughed once more as he said, "You see foolish Gallian dogs, today I rule this day. This camp may not be mine anymore, but you've accomplished nothing here in Fouzen. The Imperials will bombard you until Gallia surrenders to his grace and his superior forces." Even as this had occurred, Victor chanted his healing phrase in Russian and to the surprise of everyone but Sora, Henry and Donald the Darksen slaves were alive, the boulders gone and Berthold Gregor stunned in shock as he said surprised, "B-b-b-but how? This is sheer witchcraft I say!! How can you…?"

Victor said pointing his sword to Gregor with Squad 7 staring at him in anger, "Mighty fine talk for an aristocrat. Yet let me remind you this: you die all the same as a peasant you use for labor, you get buried in the same ground as these poor people would have been if it weren't for me, and you as well like you treated these people will in turn get prosecuted to the full extent of the laws of the MVC. By my older brother's decree in paragraph two section eight: 'Nations that violate neutrality are automatically 'tyrant nations' and must be cleansed completely or have its leader(s) removed from power and instate someone the MVC appoints'. In other words, your precious Maximillian won't get far my friend. For you see, my light is greater than any power this world has including the Valkyria and their primitive weaponry. I have given a fair warning and will allow your leave as well once I ask a few questions first." Yet before anyone could ask why he Gregor go, Donald explained, "Let him be people. You see he has a set of rules to abide by. It's called 'World Order': meaning we aren't to meddle in the affairs of other worlds, even though we are aiding you guys in war. Yet his rules also allow a fair trial should the general request it." General Gregor answered every question Victor answered.

Victor learned Maximillian was making a weapon of great power known as the Marmota and was well hidden, he learned of Ghirlandaio, a fortress of great military might since medieval times being under control of the Imperials and that Selvaria Bles was planning her own assaults day and night without delay. Soon enough Victor untied General Gregor, but even as Victor gave the okay to leave the general held out a gun to Victor's head and pulled the trigger before anyone could even stop him or warn the poor in his white armor. The bullet reflected back towards General Gregor's right leg as Victor grabbed the man's neck and said before he could put him down, "You just lost your privileges mister! As an MVC knight I told you before I got more powers than your precious Valkyria. For attempted murder at an officer's life: death!" Shocking to the rest of the group let alone Sora as well, Sora thought, 'What are you doing Victor? We don't need to do this.'

Henry then stepped towards Victor and said, "Give him to me!!" Victor looked upon the boy's determined baby blue eyes and he repeated, "You heard me, give me the general. He's caused nothing, but trouble and if fighting him means you'll stop this right now, so be it!" The group grew silent as Victor threw Gregor on the ground spitting out blood after being released from Victor's grip like a lion that had pounced on its fearful and dead prey. Henry got Berthold Gregor to stand in his full form, black uniform and cape with his officer's top hat on his head and the man took out his long staggering rapier to do battle with. Henry transformed into his armor and took out his grey sword in actuality turned into a grey keyblade with single teardrop that landed on it in the first place from Henry's soft face. The entire, befuddled and surprised, and Victor looking on at Henry in his moment of weakness thought, 'That's the way my boy. Now launch that power right at the dumb foolish aristocrat. Let him see the error of his ways.'

Henry with all his might scraped the ground clashed with Berthold Gregor. He smacked Gregor's rapier three times, before the man sidestepped the boy to his left, then his right and slashed right at Henry's armor, yet Henry had the upper hand. The green haired preteen stomped on the man's foot and slashed a giant tear in his suit and the man collapsed with ease. Henry then said, "Give it up old man! You can't beat me no matter how hard you try!" Berthold Gregor said arising slowly and getting a dark aura surround him and even a barrier separated him, Henry and the rest of the group. Victor then said, "Now it's just Henry vs. Gregor now. Let's hope he can muster everything we've prepared him for."

Berthold Gregor's reflexes became quicker slashing at Henry bit by bit, similarly to that of Sephiroth, but took an odd moment out like Clayton from Deep Jungle did to rest up and heal himself every so often. Gregor then launched the boy high into the air and slashed at his armor an exact 50 times and then slammed him hard into the steep hard canyon below him. Henry stood up feeling exhausted for a boy his age fighting a man like this. Berthold Gregor then said, "What's the matter boy? Feeling tired?" Henry shook his head as he rushed towards the man slashing at him with his keyblade and nearly missing him as he backflipped away from the boy and slashed right at his grey helmet five times nearly hitting his face.

Gregor's dark aura became stronger as his power increased and slashed at Henry ferociously and swiftly thirty times more, leaving scratches everywhere and the poor boy all beaten up and tired. Even as Sora asked Victor if he could do something to help him out, Victor shook his head. "This is Henry's moment now Sora and to be honest I saw it coming a long time ago.", Victor said. "Wh-What do you mean?", Sora asked. "You should already know now Sora. You see in my story I said I took my little brother under my wing and trained him to fight a lot like me, but at the same time keep his own style so he could have his independence. My older brother did so with me uniquely before we left for Calgary and gained his moment of truth defeating Osumaster. As a child I gained my moment of truth as a fighter beating the 'Devil'. My little got his when he beat Dark Mario with my brothers together against the 'Legion of Darkness'. Now this is Henry's moment of truth. Should he beat General Gregor, which I know he will, this will be the first step in shattering the old ways of good and evil and bring forth change for the Darksens."

Sora looked on as Henry getting the living tard blown out of him and nearly out of strength slid underneath Gregor's legs and slashed right at them causing the man to fall in his power hungry rant. Henry then asked Berthold standing over his limp body, keyblade a few inches from his face, "Do you regret what you have done here?" General Gregor laughed again in his snide way as Henry closed his eyes and slashed his body once more, ending his life. Henry then summoned his keyblade away as the barrier ceased and looked upon Squad 7 with smiling faces at him despite the grueling battle that occurred. Victor walked away looking at the sunset beginning to fade as Henry raced towards Victor and asked, "Aren't you going to congratulate me like the others?" Victor smiled looking at the young kid and scratching his hair, "I was proud of you before Fouzen and even before we met the MVC together and I still am proud to this day. You like my brother have learned all there is to know about our fighting style now."

Even as Victor said this he laid the man to rest shutting the man's eyes and burying Berthold Gregor under two to three feet of dirt and rock. Yet the journey for them still wasn't over though, as Victor would go on to say. "Well now what do we do?", Donald asked walking with Squad 7 and Victor, Sora and Henry. "Chin up Donald. We don't have a chance to barter with the Empire, but we still got some basic secrets out of Gregor that's plenty enough. I think I might do some sleuthing and get some info on this 'Marmota' Maximillian is working on. It might give us an edge in the overall fight long term. Even as Victor said this and the entire squad heading back to Randgriz, the wind started to pick up a little, hinting in a way to the future and Victor's ultimate decision on saving Isara or Anastasia.

(Well that sure was surprising how Henry got a keyblade. First Torahne and now him? Well there's a good clue why that might be folks, but as with all my tidbits of info will be revealed later on in the story. In a lot of ways the MVC from what I made it was modeled after the UN in many ways and of course the MVC in a way like the 'world order' Donald kept talking about in KH 1 applies to them since the MVC in this story is responsible for every world under their watch and protection. As the saying goes, 'keep your eyes peeled' there is a big clue to the phrase I made up in KH LOTWK: Torpacilke as the title of the next chapter will say. More to come yet so stay tuned.)

(Next time: Eternal Death.)

(Review.)


	47. Chapter 46

Eternal Death

A week after they took Fouzen, Victor, Welkin and a few others from Squad 7 and along with Sora Henry and Donald gathered around in Cpt. Varrot's office to discuss the latest operation they would be sent on very soon. All the while though, Victor and Sora couldn't even listen to the conversation and just conversed with each other over the events at Fouzen. "So what do you think it means then?", Sora asked. "It means the time has come my friend. Pretty soon we'll accomplish our goal. Devil has agreed to help us fight against the imperials and blast them out of Gallia as quickly as possible. Right about now he is liberating Bruhl all by himself. It won't be long until he reaches Ghirlandaio and begins to retake the fortress the imperials are holding captive there.", Victor said. As the meeting adjourned, Welkin stopped Victor and took him back to his office in private. "Mind telling me what's going on?", The tall brunette asked the smaller brunette in his black night sky t-shirt and blue ocean jeans. "Whatever do you mean Welkin?", Victor asked. "You know what I mean. You and Sora were talking about something to do with Isara and the Imperials. What's going to happen to them?", Welkin asked.

Victor soon came clean in a quick and painless way about his predicament and then explained, "I suppose you have heard of the legend of Eternal Death. It was supposed to be a legend or a myth. Eternal Death is like a process in some ways that involves the 'Circle of Life': People, animals and things must be born, live and die all the same. Eternal Death is what keeps the balance of this cycle intact. Without it, overpopulation would mean the end of life as we would know it in many parts of our universe. It has a lot to do with my powers of regeneration and that in some special cases fate 'chooses' people that have to die and even trying to bring them back won't have any effect. That is what I fear in this case is that if I choose to save Isara, someone else may have to take her place."

Welkin shook his head and made his way to the cafeteria along with Victor agreeing to keep this quiet for the time being until the right moment would present itself. Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Sora, Rosie, Largo, Henry, Isara, Ellet, Zaka and Donald were sitting in some of the oldest and creakiest wooden chairs they had in the army barracks to discuss their plans for the 'Feast of All Spirits". Rosie and of course the others didn't pay too much mind as Victor and Welkin came in popped a squat in a couple of chairs from a nearby table and sat down next to the others as they went on about their discussion.

"Back then, people gave everyone important to them presents, not just lovers.", Zaka said. Ellet jumped up at his response and replied, "Bingo! Give the man a prize. For a big grizzly bear, you sure know your stuff." Donald, Henry and Sora chuckled at the comment imagining Zaka, a tall 'Aladdin-like' fella as a bear. A little embarrassed at this comment and disappointed, Zaka said, "How gracious of you to say…though I tend to think of myself as a teddy bear."

Isara approached Victor, Henry, Donald, and Sora and said to them, "Victor, Henry, Sora, Donald. May I have a moment with you and Largo and Rosie as well?" Victor looked on at Largo who shrugged his shoulders and Victor nodded to agree with the sweet young Darksen girl. "So what's up then Isara?", Sora asked. Isara reached into a bag of hers made entirely of leather with small plastic buttons opening a few small pouches and took out six small dolls, ones that looked like that of her race: Darksens. They were small themselves made of string, filled with plastic beans and wore pink hats and pink dresses with arrow heads pointing left and right on either side of them. They had 'Xs' for eyes and tiny smiles on their faces for Darksen dolls were designed that way. Many of Isara's people played with them and cherished them like that of the Dreidel for the Jewish peoples from Victor's planet.

"Would you accept these gifts?", Isara asked. "This is…from before…", Donald said. "These are Darksen good luck charms. I wanted to give them to you, Victor, Sora, Henry, Largo and Rosie.", Isara said. "Not that I'm weird for saying this, but why us?", Henry asked. Isara said in a calm tone, "I…I always wanted to be your friend: with each and every one of you. We may have had our disagreements, but you've all helped me more than I can say." Sora, Henry and Donald remembered a few days when Isara needed help repairing the Edelweiss that they gave her a hand especially since she is the engineer and the only operator for the machine. "I'd like to use the Feast as an opportunity to grow a little closer to all of you.", the brunette girl continued. Without a second word more, Sora and Henry took a doll as did Donald and Victor.

Isara smiled at this and was impressed with how the boys admired her attention to detail and her expert craftsmanship. "I see. You know seein' Fouzen gave us all a lot to think about.", Victor said and looked to Rosie and Largo awaiting their responses. "Plus I…you know. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now.", Largo said flushing a little. "For someone so young, you've got perspective. Still a little bull-headed though. Thanks for the lucky charm and for coming out here Isara." Isara smiled as he said this and saw smiles from Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry as they all nodded in kind as well. Then came Rosie and her response. She refused to take a present from a 'dark-hair' and even Largo's tough guy routine with her wouldn't work this time.

"I understand. I'll be on my way now.", Isara said bowing and ran off covering her face with her hands. "Me too, I gotta get going too.", Zaka said running off as well in kind. Victor said quietly, "Tsk-tsk-tsk." Rosie slammed the table as she asked, "You got something to say to me buddy?" "How dare you? She gave her heart to you Rosie and you're just gonna throw it back in her face!!", Sora exclaimed. "Who asked you twerp? No one asked for you guys to come to our rescue, in fact we were doing just fine without you punks stinking up the air.", Rosie exclaimed running off from the cafeteria. Before Sora could go after her for the comment she made, Largo said, "Let her go. She means well, but her attitude and her past always seem to get in the way." Before Sora could ask, Largo and Ellet left as well: Largo went to the doors near the entrance to head back to the barracks, while Ellet headed east to head to her car that would take her back into Randgriz. The Feast of Spirits was similar to that of Independence Day or Canada Day in that it celebrated Gallia's history and involved a great array of blue and white fireworks, honoring their nation's flag colors.

The day after that, as Squad 7 made their way to the Marberry Shores in Northern Gallia with Sora, Victor and co., Welkin Gunther worked frivolously to plan out the mission there. To sum up everything in a pinch, it was similar to D-Day in which they would have to dodge heavy fire from two large gun turrets taking up the edge of the cliffs and the beach as well. Luckily for them, Isara just invented a special kind of 'smoke bomb' that could blind the Imperials guarding the shoreline and allow the troops to infiltrate the area and take them by surprise.

The attack began at dawn and they took the Imperial armies by surprise and thanks to Sora, Henry, Donald and Victor's efforts was a quick victory in just a quick hour and a half. Sora said while watching many of the troops retreating from the small army barracks they had captured in their wake of battle, "Look at 'em go. At this rate the Imperials will be gone before you know it." As Sora gave Victor a thumb up, the brunette in his white armor at the time looked at Isara repairing the Edelweiss as well as Zaka resting on the tank behemoth itself then to Welkin and Alicia discussing the victory here in Marberry. Henry and Donald hung out with Largo as he smoked a cigarette and leaned against a large wooden shack used for storing tanks.

Rosie approached Isara and said her name, as Isara stood up and said, "Hi Rosie. How can I help you?" "Well you have already…", the redhead continued. "You mean the doll I made?", Isara asked. "You said it was a 'protective charm' didn't you? I still owe you one from the feast so anything you want…just name it.", Rosie said. Victor meanwhile, spotted a couple of imperials behind them just in the clearing and captured them just as they called in for a couple more foot soldiers. Unaware of what was happening, Isara told Rosie, "Let me think… You know what? I'd like to hear you sing Rosie." "You want me to sing?", Rosie asked. "You always told me you enjoyed. I'd love to hear you. I bet you're great.", Isara continued. "Alright then, it's a promise.", Rosie conclude raising her hand to shake Isara's.

Yet gunfire occurred just as this was about to happen. Isara got hit right at her heart and collapsed before Rosie's eyes. Largo, pinned Henry down to the ground as Sora raced towards the large cement walls near the base hiding a few foot soldiers and chased them off and Victor grabbed hold of the soldiers he captured and said to them, "Give this as a warning to Maximillian. Tell him the next time he plans on taking out my friends, I'm gonna storm the capital and I'll make you guys wish you never dared open fire on an unarmed engineer!!" Victor held up the decapitated head of one of their comrades as they puked upon first sight of it. Sora looked on and ran back to Isara's side saying, "Isara…no!" Victor came back as quick as he could only to hear Isara's pleas. "Sorry…your dream…I wanted… I so wanted to… to make it real… just for you Welks."

"My dream? What do ya mean?", Welkin asked his 'sister'. Isara panted heavily from her gun wound looking to the skies saying, "Before…you said you wanted to… to fly…remember? You wanted… wings… So we could… see the… the sky together." Welkin gritted his teeth and hid his sadness looking at his sister's pain and Victor looked at this scene and remembered very similar scenes as well: he witnessed many deaths before in his life and remembered his vow. He vowed this that as long as he lived, fate or no fate he would take away the sadness and pain of others so that they could survive for a little longer and live a little better each day.

Victor chanted his Russian phrase just as Isara 'died' and Rosie shouted, "Isara!!!!!" Victor noticed dark gloomy clouds gather by and it began to rain near their location. They headed into a nearby barracks building to recuperate and weep at their friend's death. Donald comforted Henry and Largo found a nearby gym to go into and smashed up the place and any flag with the Imperial's insignia on it: similar to the Russian flag, but entirely red in color with their coat of arms on it in the center. Isara was put to rest in a nearby room with Sora, Welkin and Alicia crying beside her. Rosie meanwhile stood outside in the pouring rain befuddled and in temporary shock. A tap came her way and it was none other than Victor himself and Sora right behind him.

"You're gonna catch a cold like that you know.", Victor said. "How could you possibly act so caring now all of a sudden? Don't you care that she's dead?", Rosie shouted. "He helped her out you know.", Sora said grunting. Rosie was shocked at the anger and fire in that boy's words as Victor said, "I brought her back to life my dear. I have that power and if it weren't for a guy like me meddling, she would be gone by now." Rosie looked at the ground gripping her fists and weeping as she said, "Why must this happen now? I thought I could just tuck it all away for good, but my past always comes back to haunt me." Sora asked concerned at this new side of Rosie, "What do you mean?"

"It's the reason why I hate Darksens. It's also why I regret every day of it as well. It was a long time ago: my village was attacked by the Imperials. Many people from the village were killed, including my parents and my brother. The last thing they said was they wanted me to sing to them one more time. Irony was that Darksens inhabited my village as well, hence the reason the Imperials were there in the first place. I've tried to apologize to Isara all this time, but my heart felt heavy for the burden I had hiding my past and enabling my pride as well. I feel awful about it…", Rosie continued tears shedding down her freckled cheeks to her chin and to the ground.

Victor put his hand on her shoulder and said, "You have every right to feel bad. It's why we call it 'guilt' Rosie. Every human has it. I've felt guilty for many years letting a couple people I knew down and seeing a couple people in my life die: I felt as if it was my fault all the time. I vowed this as well though. No matter how great the pain could conquer my heart or cloud my judgment, I would always protect my friends from harm and prevent any more suffering from occurring ever again. Here Rosie… this is for you and Largo along with Isara should you accept it or not…" Victor handed Rosie a golden 'MVC' badge indicating membership in their organization and anything they do.

"The MVC fights to protect and ensure peace stays in many parts of this big universe. We fight to protect the weak and innocent. We fight to slay all enemies and beings that seek to empower the darkness and take over worlds. In fact, Sora is also here along with Donald and Henry for the same reason.", Victor said. Sora smiled to Rosie as he said, "It's never too late to try right?" Soon enough, the gang heard a girl calling to them from the tall thin white building with Henry and Largo smiling as well. It was Isara waving to Rosie and the gang. Before Victor could say anything, Rosie ran to Isara and gave her the biggest hug ever seen in any game or movie. Largo and the others joined in as the Darksen girl smiled and laughed all the same.

Victor looked on this happy moment and looked to the skies thinking, 'Mark my words: no matter what happens, I'll save you Anastasia. 'Eternal Death' has got nothing on my abilities.' Victor heard his name called from Sora as he waved him over to come and join their group hug. Victor obliged and ran towards everyone tackling them to the ground and covering them in mud from the rain that just passed by. As it did, the sun poked through with hope and light covering the scene, and Squad 7 along with the boys laughing and crying all at the same time from Isara's speedy recovery. Victor soon explained to everyone about his decision and the consequences that would follow.

They headed back to Randgriz and Victor and Sora were called in by Cpt. Varrot to talk about Victor's sincere act of justice in her office, cluttered with paperwork and other important certificates. Varrot said, "My boy. I know you have risked a lot for Isara. Not only have you defied fate itself, conquered many foes from what your older brother insists on in his daily reports to me, but you have also risked one of your own loved ones to take the place of Isara Gunther when she should have died. I have never been prouder…you can all come out now!" Largo, Rosie, Isara and Welkin, Donald, Henry and Alicia were just outside her office as Victor placed his right hand on his heart.

"I have no regrets Ms. Varrot. I foresaw this Squad's future and its inevitable clash with right vs. wrong, good vs. evil and revenge vs. justice. Long before I met these people, let alone Sora here long before you guys, I was always questioning my ways and my powers. I watched people I know fight for good causes, but often questioned if the 'enemy' had their own reasons for fighting. The Empire from what I have seen in the actions on the battlefield is just like us: they're fighting to end this war and get back to their families. I swore an oath as a child that I would never see tears shed for me or for unnecessary reasons. I don't intend to end it here.", Victor said catching his breath and waving his arms slightly as he continued.

"Victor…", Sora said touching his right shoulder. Cpt. Varrot said, "Very well then. Either way I have awarded you this blue ribbon. It's the Seal of Sincerity: a priceless trinket in the Gallian Army granted to a soldier with great just and noble causes to which you have displayed to me and this squad. Just remember, as a little hint of advice, never let your actions be from anger or sorrow. Fight for what you stated to me: justice, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil. If you follow your heart and what it beckons you to do you can never go wrong." Victor and Sora soon retreated away with the blue ribbon he received and the boy held it close to his heart as he headed into his private room with Henry right behind him.

(Another long chapter as usual, but there was lot for this part of Valkyria Chronicles and had to sum it up as quickly as possible. Now in this chapter, I have been referencing some of the clues from my last story Legend of the White Knight near the end of it with that one word if you all do remember it: Torpacilke. What does it mean? Well let's just say that it's more than a word, but rather a name!!! Crazy twist huh? It's been clues to this whole story and its sub plots along with that it is also someone's name as well. Who's name you might ask? That's another 'story' for another day. More to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Battle of Naggiar/Attack of Ghirlandaio (part 1).)

(Review.)


	48. Chapter 47

The Battle of Naggiar/Attack of Ghirlandaio (part 1)

Inside a dark green tent, just on the outskirts of the Naggiar Plains and over a few hundred kilometers from Ghirlandaio, our troops gathered for the missions to come being handed out by General Damon. After being told of Devil's victory at Bruhl, General Damon was continuing on his rant about the missions to Naggiar and Ghirlandaio. General Damon explained, "Thus is why the troops have recommended him and you guys to join forces together to vanquish our enemies and send them out of Gallia once and for all." Cpt. Varrot slamming the wooden table holding the documents for the missions and maps of the areas said angrily, "You have gone too far General Damon. I've played by your rules long enough now and have to refuse this time. Our troops for one would be at a disadvantage split up and to add to the problems would only be sent into suicide doing these missions as they are now. We were just shaken up at how one of our fine engineers nearly died in combat a couple of weeks ago." General Damon then said twisting his mustache, "Varrot know your place. You as a woman have no right to neither judge nor take head command. As long as I'm alive I'll be making the orders. Is that clear?"

Varrot gritted her teeth as she said silently, "Understood sir. But mark my words, when this blows up in your face, my troops will be the victims in your charade and you'll be held accountable for all this." "Good we have an understanding. Don't worry, we'll be assisting out at Ghirlandaio so you don't have to put much thought as to who should go. Be vigilant though. We've heard of creatures in black and white with symbols of hearts on their bellies, foreheads and what not roaming about these parts as well.", General Damon said walking out high and mighty.

Sora, Henry, Donald and Victor hearing this said, "Creatures in black? White? With symbols of hearts?" Rosie seeing the boys act funny asked them, "You know those things?" Sora summoned his keyblade and looking at his keyblade said, "They're called Heartless and Nobodies. They're the creatures I used to slay back home to release people's hearts. They're incomplete people that gave themselves to darkness: the hearts corrupted by darkness become Heartless while the souls and bodies left over become Nobodies." Isara asked looking at their shocked faces, "Is that a bad thing?" Sora, Donald, and Henry gasped as Victor said, "It makes sense now. Your world was never attacked by the Heartless which is why you don't know about them. Believe me Isara, they are bad news. But if you leave them to us we can take care of them. With a great enough army, you guys could drive them out too." Welkin was soon handed pictures of many different kinds of Heartless and Nobodies encountered by Sora and said, "They look like us in so many ways but are incomplete. It's so sad when you think about it."

Silence took over for a minute as Cpt. Varrot then said, "We have a job to do people, should we split up we need to know who is going and where we are going. Even with General Damon's forces in Ghirlandaio and the few that remain for Naggiar, we still aren't out of the woods. These creatures may yet prove to be vigilant and quick judging by these pictures these boys brought to attention." Victor signed up for Ghirlandaio and requested to go alone to which the whole group gasped at.

An impossible feat for even a 19 year old boy like himself. Not only would he have to face a Valkyria like Selvaria, but the amount of Heartless, Nobodies, and Imperials along the way would prove to be lethal. Alicia then said signing her name with Welkin and Isara, "Let us go too. We can help him out and the others can go to Naggiar and drive them out from there. Devil can take command of the squad for now can't he?" Alicia looked to Welkin with those brown determined eyes shining like stars in the sky. Welkin sighed and said, "I can't disagree to that. If he's gone as far as Bruhl and reclaimed it in less than an hour, he's got to be talented. Plus from what Victor told us he was his tutor and a former enemy." Rosie then asked making a 'T' with her hands, "Okay…time out. If he's supposed to be good and was an enemy why would he be helping us out? He's never been Gallia at all I don't think and we don't know him at all. How can we trust him?"

Largo gave Rosie a harsh look and said her name with a rough attitude, to which they heard a chuckle coming from outside. The purple demon then said coming inside the tent, "Funny you should ask, because I was actually brought back twice from the dead thanks to that boy's kindness: once when he was only 16 and just recently before when Radiant Garden was destroyed. Make no mistake, I have dreams of being the ruler of my own Dark kingdom one day, but I do owe the boy a favor or two and this will just about make us even." Alicia stepped outside to get some air as Devil showed his documents of great status to Cpt. Varrot while Donald, Sora and Henry talked to Victor alone. Victor listening to all of them talk at once soon got a headache as powerful as a tornado in Texas ripping up trailers and houses.

He quieted everyone down as he said, "Guys guys, listen I know it might seem like a stretch after what he just said. However, there is good in him, Devil's the kind of guy that looks back on the past with great awe and desire. He always dreamed of being a far better villain than I was beating a 'hero' and more, but never got it because I beat him fair and square with determination." Sora shook his head and said, "Yet when he talked to us he said he wanted revenge on you." "Yeah, but you got to understand that's the old Devil talking. I hurt him pretty bad when I left him. He swore revenge because he thought I betrayed him, kinda like when Riku thought you betrayed him remember?" Sora remembered back when Riku turned to darkness and faced him in head to head combat with Donald and Goofy.

He nodded and agreed as Victor said, "Don't you see? He's your best chance at winning this battle without me or Welkin and the Edelweiss." Reluctantly Sora and co. agreed, even thought once again they would be separated for a short time without Victor at their side. A gunshot was heard outside as they rushed outside and Welkin yelled, "Oh no! Alicia!!" Devil told Victor he'd go look up ahead for the culprit and flew off quicker than a high speed jet in motion. Victor approached Alicia and saw a bullet deep in her chest close to her heart and backed Welkin away as he did his stuff. He chanted his Russian phrase and sure enough a bullet came out from Alicia's body and the wound healed up very quickly. Victor handed the bullet to Welkin as Largo said amazed at that power, "I got to learn how to do that. We could bring back people we know and love." Victor patted Largo on the back as he said this and just said, "You might wanna be careful how you do so my friend. It's actually a lot more complicated than it looks like. You can't just bring any…" Devil arrived back and brought a Gallian sniper rifle saying, "This was used to shoot down Alicia. The bullet should also be of this rifle's caliber." Sure enough looking closely at the bullet Welkin agreed.

Isara then asked, "But who would do such a thing from our own troops no less?" Devil handed Welkin a tiny brown journal with a picture of Faldio attached to the front page of the tiny journal. Welkin and the others read through it discussing about its contents: the Valkyria and its legends and how their powers would awaken when they were near death itself. Welkin angrily said to Devil, "Find me Faldio immediately. You know what he looks like now so it should be no problem." Devil nodded as he said this and flew off into the sky as Welkin focused on finding Faldio as well with the others. Meanwhile, they left Alicia in the tent to rest and regain her strength. All the while, Faldio hiding under Alicia's cot handed her a lance like sword and shield like that of Selvaria's to her and ran as fast as he could out of the tent running into Welkin.

"Well well well. If it isn't my dear friend Faldio?", Welkin said with frown on his face. "Now listen Welkin I know what you're thinking, but think of it this way, we actually have a chance to destroy the Imperials forces in our lands once and for all. We can reclaim our land again." Welkin punched Faldio right in his right eye and said pinning him, with Victor, Sora, Henry and Donald approaching fast behind them, "That doesn't give you the right to do such a thing. There's other ways of doing this!!" "What do you suppose we do? Depend on foreign help in our land and in our war? This is our country and we have every right to defend ourselves with whatever we have at our disposal." Cpt. Varrot alerted by Victor broke up the fight and said to Welkin, "You are hereby demoted from the higher ranks to simple commanding office of a single squad for roughhousing Welkin. And as for you Faldio Landzaat, I have no choice but to discharge you from the force all together. Attempting to take a life is federal office and you could easily be sent to jail. You're lucky that Alicia is alive at all so I won't have to charge you, but you to never again serve under the Gallian militia."

Faldio walked away with his pride left in him back to Randgriz further to the south as Cpt. Varrot concluded, "I don't want to hear another word about this. Dismissed!" Even as this occurred, Welkin shook his head and pressed his hands at his forehead to clear his mind. Sora asked, "Are you okay?" "If you don't mind Sora, I'd like to be alone for a while.", Welkin said. "Alright, but just remember don't lose your best friend because of this. My best friend turned to darkness before and we fought each other like you two just did, and even then I searched for him and brought him back home with me." Welkin sighed at this and nodded at his kind remarks, and looked to the calm sunny sky at the time that was about to turn cloudy and rain.

Hours passed by as the troops prepared for tomorrow and their trips to the Naggiar Plains and Ghirlandaio fortress. Devil soon arrived back at the tent nearby Welkin who slept there outside and woke him up abruptly and quickly. "Huh, whu…oh it's you Devil. What's going on?", Welkin asked rubbing his eyes. "It's Alicia, she's gone!!" "What?", Welkin asked. Not far behind Sora, Victor, Henry and Donald overheard this and ran to Welkin as Devil flew off into the sky. "What's up Welks?", Sora asked. "It's Alicia. She's disappeared!! She just got up and walked away with a lance and a shield in hand to Ghirlandaio.", Welkin said. Victor looked to the skies watching Devil pass by as Sora stated they should go after her right now.

"I'll be doing that thank you. Welkin, Isara and I are going there with the Edelweiss anyway so we'll get her back in the long run too.", Victor stated. "But…", Sora said. "No buts, Sora. We got to do what Victor says. We have a mission to take care of.", Donald stated winking to Victor and pushing him and Henry to Squad 7 who were ready to leave for Naggiar. Meanwhile, Welkin and Victor got their weapons ready for battling in Ghirlandaio as Victor said, "Don't you worry. I'll get her back safe and sound. Trust me on that." Welkin nodded and soon they ran to Isara and the Edelweiss, ready for departure as well.

(Crazy chapter. In a way I always thought Faldio was like Riku in the sense that he and Welkin didn't see eye to eye all the time especially with Alicia, similar to Riku and Sora's view of rescuing Kairi or the worlds. In the same way, Faldio means well, but has a funny way of showing it. More to come as I continue this story so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: the Battle of Naggiar/Attack of Ghirlandaio (part 2).)


	49. Chapter 48

The Battle of Naggiar/Attack of Ghirlandaio (part 2)

Sora, Henry, Devil and Donald headed out with Squad 7 to Naggiar quickly as possible, avoiding the heavy gunfire along the way of course. Under Devil's 'wing', Squad 7 took extra precaution when opening fire upon regular Imperial soldiers and dodging a barrage of tanks and turrets posted along the rocky, steep and hilly valleys of Naggiar. It wasn't really much to look at. The plains looked dead like rotten animal carcasses, the ground was covered in spiked wire traps and trip bombs, and the trees in the surrounding area were cut down or blow to bits to make room for tanks and infantry. Devil then flew into the sky and warned the Imperials, "Step down you fools and retreat as fast as your feet can carry you. Otherwise, Naggiar will drink deeply of your blood." Not heading his word of course, the troops moved closer to attack Squad 7, alone with no tank or protection other than Sora, Donald, Henry and Devil. As the rains stopped that day and the sun peaked, Rosie asked Devil, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Devil nodded and said, "Yes my dear. Now do what we planned before alright? I take out their tanks and turret guns, while you all head deep across the plains into the trenches. You'll be safe from the mortars those turrets can launch and should be able to take the bases up ahead just fine. There's only two here and once one of them is taken down, mind you, it will become a lot harder afterwards to maintain your cover. Only fire when absolutely necessary, alright?"

Squad 7 nodded and rushed through into the trenches as Sora ran into the middle of the plains where Heartless and Nobodies were gathering. As the boy got closer and closer, with Donald and Henry right behind him, the Nobodies and Heartless closed off their path behind them and encircled them preparing for attack. They consisted of Dusks, Neoshadows, Big body Heartless, Shadow Heartless, Berserker Nobodies and Samurai nobodies. Even as Sora and Henry took out their keyblades and Donald took out his staff, the Heartless and Nobodies began to creep closer until there was nowhere to run off to.

Sora slashed at a three heartless, while Henry using his keyblade grabbed a couple Dusks and threw them into the air. Then Henry zapped them both twice and sent them down destroying five Big body Hearltess and a Berserker nobody. Donald used Blizzaga to freeze many of the enemies as Sora used Thundaga to finish them all and destroyed every Heartless and Nobody around him. Yet more and more seemed to appear, as Squad 7 made extreme progress into the trenches where the bases were at. Sora then said, "That does it then. Enough's enough." Sora then transformed into his 'Master Form' as more Berserker Nobodies and Big Body Heartless appeared and surrounded him, Henry and Donald.

Devil meanwhile, talented as he was flew gracefully in circles deflecting any bullets gunmen from the turrets were firing and with ease, zapped a giant laser beam from his eyes and destroyed the left turret along the rocky foothill. Next he zoomed towards the next turret towards the right along the rocky foothill above the trenches Squad 7 were using. As the turret opened fire on him, it nicked his left wing as he saw his own blood drip to the ground. He roared and said, "No one shoots me and gets away it. Nobody!" With a single roar he flew high into the sky, made a loop de loop and flew straight through the turret, turning his head upside down and blasting it to smithereens with his 'eye laser beams'.

Sora unfortunately, was getting bombarded by the Berserker nobodies as they blew him away with their long lance like swords and crushed the ground around them in a barrage of smashing action. Remembering about his fake Sword of Light, he transformed into his golden armor and slashed at five guys in a row in front of him, clashed with another Big Body Heartless and tossed him to the ground crushing another ten Berserker Nobodies and then finished the rest of the Big Body Heartless and Berserker Nobodies off with both his keyblade and the fake Sword of Light's zapping powers. The operation became a success as Squad 7 managed to capture the first base easily. Next, Devil flew further up ahead, taking out the tank guarding the last base with ease and taking the base there as well.

The Battle of Naggiar ended with a supreme victory. Even as the Heartless and Nobodies with the Imperials retreated, Rosie and Largo could only laugh at how easy the mission was. "Wow, I can't believe we did that so fast. It only took like a half an hour to reclaim Naggiar and send those guys home crying.", Rosie said. Largo also had himself a chuckle as he said, "No kidding, those guys won't be bothering us anytime soon." Devil flew to the ground where Squad 7 and Sora and co. were waiting and caught his breath as he said, "That was superb. Not only did we finish the job we started here, you all did your part and listened to my commands with great regard. That and I got quite a workout. Let's head for home, I see General Damon's forces heading this way." Right as Devil called it, blue and white tanks appeared from all over the rocky, dead plains of the area along with many troops to take the area as their own.

As Sora, Henry and Donald walked confidently with back home to Randgriz, Largo then asked Sora, "Say fellas, you were mentioning about those things, the Heartless and the Nobodies. What're they like? What kind of creatures are they?" Sora then thought about it hard and long with Henry and Donald as he said a moment later, "Ya know, I haven't really thought about it like that. They're just a bunch of incomplete beings: people that lost their hearts to darkness became those creatures. They can be very aggressive and forceful when provoked. Anyone could become them to be honest. Some of those things had red armor on as well from what I saw. It seems that the Imperials have begun losing their hearts to the darkness too I'm afraid." Largo fell silent as they made their long, yet tedious and back breaking trek to Randgriz.

Towards the border of Gallia, Welkin and Isara inside the Edelweiss as well as Victor riding on his Sword of Light cruised through to Ghirlandaio fortress, the castle to top all castles. Not only did it have four turrets covering the outside of the castle along with a long stretch of terrain crawling with Heartless and Nobodies, inside the castle itself, there were two large tanks and four bases with snipers and lancers awaiting the arrival of any terrain unit at all. To add to the perilous journey through the gigantic, brick fortress from medieval times was Selvaria Bles herself waiting inside for attack. Even as Victor and the Edelweiss made it, they saw Alicia with her lance and shield leveling the entire area outside the fortress of Ghirlandaio and breaking down the tall steel bar gates to get inside the castle.

Welkin said via a communicator inside the Edelweiss to Victor, "Look at the damage here…it looks more like a ghost town now than a fortified castle to me. I still can't believe Faldio did this to Alicia." Victor then yelled to Welkin, "Get a hold of yourself. We'll deal with him after we settle things with him after we take the castle. I'll get Alicia and deal with Selvaria, you and Isara just blow the rest of the troops out of the water." Welkin nodded, as the Edelweiss moved through black ground underneath them as dark as soot and as stinky as rotten eggs. Clearly the enemies used gas bombs and grenades to destroy Alicia, but thanks to her Valkyrian powers, it was no match for her.

The Edelweiss blasted away at a couple tanks in hot retreat with ease as Welkin kept moving. The poor boy inside the tank looked worried as Isara asked him, "Are you okay big brother?" Looking at Isara for a second, Welkin snapped out of his coma and smiled at her. "Thanks Is. You brought me back to my senses. Come on we can't let 'em get away now.", Welkin said proudly. The Edelweiss approached the Heartless inside the half destroyed castle, with General Damon and his troops fighting them every step of the way. Five shocktroopers in fact took out twenty Dusks on their own and five Big Body Heartless!!! General Damon taking out a thin rapier slashed at ten Dusks and a Berserker Nobody on his own and pointed to Selvaria, "Get the Valkyria men! These creatures aren't any match for us now." Even as the men charged towards Selvaria, she blasted many of General Damon's troops away laughing all the while as she did.

She then raced down from the central base at the top floor of Ghirlandaio and blasted five Gallian tanks coming into view, narrowly missing the Edelweiss. Feeling the aftershock of the blast, Welkin said to Isara, "Let's proceed with caution. Selvaria's still a threat to be dealt with carefully, even if she's pinned down." Meanwhile, Victor approached Selvaria and punched her straight in the gut. Then she slashed his armor brutally sending him twenty feet into the air. Victor flew like Peter Pan gliding with the wind and took Selvaria into the air blasting her with a barrage of his quick attacks from his Sword of Light. For his finishing move, the boy elbowed her in the back of her neck sending her to the ground below severely injured and desperate. Even as he landed, Victor walked slowly towards her and picked the girl up by her hair as silver as that of a shiny quarter.

The boy laughed as he looked upon Selvaria and then to Alicia approaching Selvaria and him and said, "How you guys are all powerful I will never know. As far as you guys go in power, the Valkyria have nothing on my power." "Is that supposed to be a joke? You've mocked my people for the last time!!", Selvaria yelled in anger slashing Victor finely and quickly all around his body. Then for her finishing move, blasted him with a large beam of light right at his body to end the game. Alicia approached Selvaria slashed her with the lance like sword Faldio gave her. "There's no need for two Valkyria in this world.", Selvaria said looking her straight in the eyes and clashing her weapon with Alicia's.

As the smoke cleared, Victor revealed to be alright and well protected thanks to his Sword of Light clashed with Selvaria's shield and kicked her right in the gut. A three way battle ensued, as Alicia struck at Selvaria's shield then Selvaria to Victor's Sword of Light and Alicia's sword and then Victor's Sword of Light to Selvaria's lance like sword. The fight continued like this for hours with no winner in sight. Selvaria kicked Alicia and Victor into the air and clashed with their respectable weapons head on, putting all of her power into each strike. Victor then sliced directly at the shield and managed to crack it as Alicia clashed with Selvaria's lance.

Alicia blasted Selvaria away with her last once of power sending Selvaria's lance into ash and dust, and reverting back into her normal form as she fell from the sky to the ground at a slow pace. Victor meanwhile destroyed Selvaria's shield a moment later and said to her as she began to fall, "It's over Selvaria. You fought valiantly, but you have lost in the end. Ghirlandaio is ours." Selvaria laughed as the boy said this and Victor asked, "What's so funny?" "You really don't know at all? This was 'His Grace's' plan all this time. With the completion of the Marmota he shall take Randgriz as his own and you shall all bow to him. I've been loyal ever since I was a little girl to 'His Grace'."

Selvaria continued weak and helpless, "I did everything he wanted and more just so I could be with him and repay him for without him, I would not be living at this very moment." Victor sighed and said, "You poor girl. You don't have to do this. There are other ways to serve your empire without doing what I think you're doing." Selvaria kicked Victor's hand away offering peace and love and frowned at him as she said, "What do you know? I do this to serve my lands and 'His Grace' of my own free will. If I want to do this it's my choice. When Maximillian arrives in Gallia's capital, you shall all suffer his wrath. Pity I won't be there to see you all squeal like the swine you all are." Victor summoned a giant barrier around the castle to prevent it from expanding outward to the Edelweiss as this occurred and turned his sights to catching and protecting Alicia.

Even though it seemed like the end of Selvaria, called upon a power within her known as the 'Blue Flame' a legendary power all Valkyria had to finish their foes, but at the cost of their life. Alicia fell from the sky as Victor raced downward to catch her. Selvaria unleashed her power in the form of a giant white ball explosion destroying Ghirlandaio and everything in sight. General Damon's forces and the Heartless and Nobodies were all incinerated in the blast even as this occurred. The explosion subsided and left a large bowl of ash and dust covering the area on a dark night in Ghirlandaio. Welkin opened the hatch to see nothing left of the Castle except, rubble, half destroyed tanks, and an incinerated body of General Damon and his whole troops.

The boy got tears to his eyes as he said silently, "Alicia." Then shaking his head yelled, "ALICIA!!!!!" Moments later, getting out of the tank with Isara smacked the Edelweiss ten times as if he were playing whack-a-mole to win the grand prize at a carnival. Isara stopped the poor boy in his tracks and held his left arm saying, "It'll be alright big brother. Please don't be sad." Welkin for the first time as a commander showed some sadness in the bleakest of times, especially when he was supposed to be the calmest of the troops. Yet from the ashes of Ghirlandaio, the barrier wore off and from the smoke came a boy in white armor carrying Alicia in his arms: one hand by the legs and one hand holding her hand gently while walking.

Isara pulled at her brother as she said looking and smiling at Victor, "Welks, look!! It's a miracle!!" Welkin turned around and saw it was Victor covered in ash and smoke along with Alicia, but were breathing and alive for the most part. Welkin laughed as he saw this and grabbed Alicia off Victor's hands as he said calmly, "Bless your heart friend. You saved Alicia even though Ghirlandaio was destroyed. How did you make it out? We thought you guys were goners." Victor held his right arm near neck saying, "It's a perk with my imaginative powers. I have great power when I do the right thing: in this case protecting this young lady. Clearly she means a lot to you." Welkin hearing this said embarrassed and with his cheeks turning pink-red, "What? No you're kidding. She's my assistant and…" Victor held out his hand to stop the poor boy as he brushed off his armor of the dust and ash from before.

"I don't want to hear a word of it. I see from your face is very important. I have a girl just like yours as well. She's counting on me to save her too.", Victor continued. Looking at the remains of Ghirlandaio, Isara said, "Such destruction. I can't believe someone would do such a thing." As this occurred, Alicia awoke and asked in a whisper, "Welk-in…wh-what are we doing here?" Welkin put his index finger to her mouth to silence her as he said with a grin, "Please don't speak Alicia. You need your rest, you've been through a lot as is." As Alicia was laid down to rest inside the Edelweiss and Welkin and Isara got inside and drove off. Victor looked back on the dark, crumpled and ashy remains of Ghirlandaio and said, "Pitiful really. It wasn't Selvaria's power that killed her. It was her dedication to Maximillian that did her in." With that he walked onto his Sword of Light and flew away back to Randgriz with the Edelweiss following straight behind. This was the beginning of the end of Maximillian and the Empire's hold in Gallia.

(Poor Selvaria. For those who haven't played the game, in the game she was ordered to use the 'Blue Flames' as a way of destroying her enemies in Ghirlandaio and all because Maximillian was a jerk about it trying to claim power and become a 'god' in a sense. Stupid I would bet would be the right term, but Selvaria was committed to him though and in some ways I thought there could have been a great romantic relationship between them, had things been different. Also I brought the Hearltess and Nobodies into the story obviously since it is 'Kingdom Hearts', but also since 'the darkness in people's hearts' thing applies to all worlds I would think, including non-Disney and non-Square Enix ones as well. More to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: General Jaegar vs. Sora/A Love on the Rise.)


	50. Chapter 49

General Jaeger vs. Sora/A love on the rise

Squad 7 was reported to the Kloden Wildwood once more, but this time instead of facing off against troops in all directions they were up against the Marmota: an impenetrable monstrous metallic tank, armed to the teeth with guns, canons, firearms, etc. This black painted machine bore with it the Imperial Coat of Arms (similar to the Russian Coat of Arms) and was over a hundred stories in height and length!! With General Damon and a majority of the Gallian army support wiped out from Selvaria and the Blue Flames, only a few squads remained to stand in the Empire's way at all. Alicia mysteriously disappeared out of sight for many days after hearing about her Valkyria bloodline and what happened in Ghirlandaio.

Victor on the one hand was in Central Gallia attending to other matters, including reporting to Michael about the Squadron and their whereabouts and even battling General Jaeger in a monstrous clash of epic proportions. To sum it up, Victor won, leaving the general slightly wounded and his pride a little damaged. Meanwhile, as Donald went on his way to the Kloden Wildwood, Sora and Henry remained back at Randgriz for backup should any troops try to invade the city capitol while every squad was on duty. As such for the past two weeks, Sora and Henry took the time to get some rest in the barracks near the Training Grounds of Randgriz. Little did they know, they would be getting an unexpected visitor. An alarm was sounded just outside the barracks as Sora awoke from a peaceful nap and headed outside to a nice, clear, sunny day. Outside was General Jaeger himself holding out a long curved sword standing just less than fifty feet away from Sora who summoned his keyblade ready for battle.

"What a marvelous weapon. I can see that next to your friend with the mighty sword, you are the one of the most powerful.", Jaeger proclaimed. "What was that? Did you do something to Victor?", Sora asked. "Relax my young foe. I wish I could have at least beaten him while I was at it. The boy was so fast and powerful I couldn't even hold my breath. To make matters worse, as we were fighting, he blew away my tank, Lupus, to bits. Any chance of getting back home would be on foot for me to the Empire. The reason I'm here is because that boy told me about your power and that I could figure out why I lost to him so easily. " Sora gasped at this statement and looked to the sky thinking of what was happening out there in Kloden all this time.

"So he really said I was this powerful?", Sora asked. Jaeger nodded and took a good look at the Kingdom Key Sora wielded and smiled. "I'd like to make a wager if I may. Should you win, I will leave back home and never be heard from again. Should I win, you tell me about that key like weapon you always carry around. " Sora nodded and summoned his golden armour as well as his golden Sword of Light to his side, but in all fairness tossed it aside to give General Jaeger a nice clean match. Once again General Jaeger smiled at this and held his sword out in a similar fashion to Riku, as he held out his right hand teasingly waving to Sora to make the first strike.

Sora made the first move charging right at the man, but General Jaeger easily brushed him off like he was a fly on his suit. Sora then clashed his keyblade with General Jaeger's sword, making sparks come from many directions. Even as this occurred, Sora got repelled by General Jaeger once more was put on the defensive as General Jaeger slashed right at the boy. Sora could only hold his keyblade at its side to block every move the general sent his way. General Jaeger clashed with his keyblade left, then right, from below and then from above as Sora held the same position desperately. "Such a pity. I thought you were going to show me the power of that thing you got there. Victor himself praised you for its wondrous power and agility." Sora confidently smiled as General Jaeger lost his smile and stared at the boy's determined baby blue eyes. Sora then said, "This isn't over yet."

Sora clashed with the general again, blowing him ten feet away when Sora repelled him. Sora ran for him and nearly made a hit near his neck, but General Jaeger dodged with ease and teleported behind him kicking him in the back and sending the boy crashing in the dirt road surrounding the Training Grounds and the barracks. General Jaeger picked Sora up by his sleeve and slammed him into the ground messing up his armour and tearing a hole in his helmet. The general took pity on the boy as he thought, 'Why on Earth would that boy suggest to fight this guy here? He's clearly no match for me at all and...' Without a moment to spare Sora clashed again with the general with his fake Sword of Light putting him back on the defensive.

Then Sora launched himself to General Jaeger and sliced his sword in two, narrowly missing his suit as well as his chest. General Jaeger thought as this occurred, 'I see...so that's why.' Sora then withdrew his keyblade away from his side and demorphed from his suit as General Jaeger smiled and laughed. "A most impressive battle I should say. I wasn't even trying and I still lost to such power: the heart. Perhaps my fight isn't with the Empire or Gallia at all. All I ever wanted was my country to have its independence. But it looks as if it might not even come at all." Even as the general walked away with both hands in his pockets, the skull of a deer on his right shoulder sagging, Sora stopped the man and showed him the Kingdom Key.

"This weapon is used to lock and unlock the hearts of people and all worlds. I choose to lock the worlds and thus save them from the heartless. I don't just fight with my own strength, but the people around me I know and care about." General Jaeger once again looking at the boy and his baby blue eyes smiled and said, "Once again you amaze me Sora. I see now why I lost. I also would like to thank you as well." Sora gasped at this surprised and shocked. "Thank me?", Sora asked. "If it weren't for you, I would not know my path right now. I will help my country gain independence, but not by Maximillian. His path is already set and is planning to take over Castle Randgriz as we speak. Even after seeing your power here and now I can tell that he won't get far.", General Jaeger proclaimed.

Even as he headed east, out of the city undetected, with many castle troops here and there searching for the man, Sora felt happy inside. Thanks to his short, but kind and provocative speech, he changed a man from that of fighting in vain to a man who fights with his heart and for the people he cares about. Sora then headed back inside the barracks for some rest as the Royal Guards retreated to the castle as did the castle troops.

Sora and Henry soon headed out to Kloden, two days later, where things were heating up for Squad 7 and for Victor and Donald as they were leading the Marmota through a set of caverns and forks in the roads to its destination: a trap of five to twenty Gallian tanks and a 100 yard area of landmines, booby traps and other minefields for the Marmota to come across.

Sora and Henry came across the battlefield to where the Edelweiss as well as Victor and Donald were and before Donald could nag them as to why they didn't stay in Randgriz, Victor tapped his shoulder and then stepped closer until he was a couple feet apart from Sora and Henry. "Didn't Donald and I tell you guys to stay back where it was safe? And you two deliberately disobeyed my orders when things right now are in hot water."

Henry twiddled his thumbs as Victor looked at him and then back to Sora. "You also brought Henry with you too which was worse.", Victor added. "In all fairness, we decided to fight as well. We can't just sit around and do nothing. This is our fight too you know.", Sora told Victor. Victor thought about what he said and turned to face the oncoming monster of a machine: the Marmota. "I guess as much as I'd like to argue, we need to be at our strongest and should you guys come along, you'll have to hold your own against Maximillian.", Victor added. Sora and Henry agreed as did Donald and soon enough they heard Largo say he spotted someone in the midst of the minefields, where the Marmota began to break through, smashing through mines and traps with ease and blowing every tank to bits, excluding the Shamrock and the Edelweiss.

Zaka popped out of the Shamrock and took out some binoculars to see who was on the battlefield. "What are they thinking? ...What? That's Alicia, she's going to attack that thing all by herself.", Zaka said in dismay. "We've got to stop her!!", Sora said running out into the midst of battle as did Welkin and Henry right behind them both. Victor sighed as he waved to Donald just ten feet away from him to follow along into the midst of gorge where Alicia, glowing in blue flames like she was before, stood before the giant mechanical behemoth, awaiting a brutal vicious barrage of bullets and gunfire.

Alicia calmly said, "Forgive me Welkin. I shouldn't have left. Not without saying goodbye. I've been thinking this whole time Welkin. Wondering why I was born like I am, a Valkyria. If only I weren't a Valkyria, things would be like they were before, wouldn't they? But no that is one way. But I have found another. I know how I can my life as a Valkyria meaning." She then raised her Valkyrian lance in the air even as clouds gathered in the area. Alicia continued, "I can use my power. I can stop this thing. I'll stoke my life fire into a blaze. I'll save you. I'll save Bruhl, my friends, and everyone else in Gallia."

The Marmota opened heavy fire upon Alicia, making sandstorms blow heavily across the land and the ground shake. It was so strong, it blew Sora and Donald ten feet away from Victor who grabbed Henry's left hand as he nearly got blown off his feet into the air. Welkin got hit the hardest falling flat on his back and getting sand blown in his face, but got up and yelled out, "Aliciaaaa!!" From the smoke and ash, Alicia was unharmed, protected by her lance and shield glowing in a blue aura surrounded by ash and debris crumbling around the girl.

She revealed her face as her shield began to spin on its own slowly calmly saying, "I am Valkyria." Her eyes turned red and she began to dash across the gorge of the Kloden Wildwood, causing the ground to explode and burst into odd flames behind her. She pivoted her right foot on the ground sharply avoiding the burst of canon gunfire from the turrets of the giant Marmota and spun herself in the air, launching herself through the tire track of the Marmota, and making slight damage to the machine itself.

"I am Valkyria...not a woman. No... That life has ended. Alicia Melchiott is dead.", Alicia said with a tear streaming down her right eye. The Blue Flame engulfed her as she walked closer to the Marmota at a slow pace. She stopped as the Marmota began to change its coordinates and turned to its left to head further to Randgriz. Welkin, Victor along with Sora and company finally caught up with Alicia panting at the 70 yards of ground they had to cover just to reach her at all.

"Alicia!!", Welkin said. Alicia turned to see her commanding officer and the others behind him and then said, "Welkin, my friends!! What are you doing here? Leave! I'm destroying the Marmota. Only I can do it. I'm one life my death could save a whole country!" Welkin shouted to her, "Alicia, you're wrong! You could destroy them with your power, but that's not real victory. Real victory is something we have to claim for ourselves without relying on your power." Henry then remembered at a split second as a young boy what his father told him at that very moment.

{Flashback}

'Henry was only five as he went into his nice warm queen sized bed with its white quilt. After being read a bed-time story, his father told him stroking his long brown beard, "Remember son as the White Knight told the villagers in the story so too will I tell you this: Real victory is something we claim for ourselves without relying on a higher power to do so. Always remember that and nothing will ever overcome you." With that Henry was tucked into bed and fell fast asleep as his father closed the door.'

{Present}

"I can't.", Alicia said sadly and then she looked to the ground instead of Welkin's face. "Welkin, I can't. Valkyrian blood runs in my veins. I-I'm not human like you are.", Alicia continued. The whole group saw a tear run down Alicia's sweet delicate face as Sora stepped closer to be beside Welkin. "You're right. It's true that you have powers that we don't.", Sora said. Victor continued, "But so what? You're still Alicia." Alicia's tears were dropping down to the ground like rain falling from clouds as this conversation kept going.

"Kind, bright, a future baker. Alicia has any of that changed?", Welkin asked. Alicia gasped as she heard the last sentence of Welkin's and Welkin continued once more, "You may be a Valkyria, but you're still the same girl." Listening closely, Sora saw a bit of himself and Kairi in Alicia and Welkin looking to the clouds and hoping for the best. Victor too thought of Anastasia and if she was in any harm or danger also seeing a bit of himself and that girl in Alicia and Welkin.

"I will protect you. Alicia, I love you.", Welkin finished as quickly as he started. Meanwhile, Sora, Donald and Henry all gasped and said 'what' in unison. Even Alicia was startled at this as Welkin pulled out a Lion's paw flower (very similar to a dandelion but two separate flowers grow from the same stem.) Welkin turned it into a wedding ring and placed it in Alicia's ring finger on her right hand and asked, "Alicia, once this war is finished, will you be with me? I would be with you, together, always." Alicia wiped away her tears and smiled confidently. She then said, "Yes always."

Then in an astounding moment, Welkin and Alicia kissed (OMG!!!!!) and in a single moment time and space seemed to be in harmony. Alicia's blue flames disappeared and in their place was a green cloud of sparkling lights falling from the sky, similar to how Destiny Island was rebuilt after Kingdom Hearts was sealed. Sora could only cover Henry's eyes with both of his hands, even as the boy struggled to get free and look at the happy lovers. To add to this, the keyhole for the world also appeared and from the green sparkling lights Sora saw it in the dark cloudy sky. He aimed for it and as quick as lightning locked the giant keyhole before anymore Heartless or Nobodies could appear. Even Victor felt something within his soul begin to grow heavily, almost like it was a new power gained from that sweet tender moment.

Before anymore could be said or done, Largo said in a cocky fashion, "Wooh, you guys are making me blush over here. But, uh, you sure that's wise? You know, this being a combat zone and all?" Behind Victor and Sora was the whole of Squad 7, including Isara and Irene Ellet. "Well now look at the happy couple. And I get the big scoop. That is I would if it were anyone else, but for you two I'll keep my big mouth shut. Just this once, you hear?", Irene Ellet proclaimed.

As Rosie and Alicia hugged each other along with Isara, Victor gave Welkin his officer's hat that blew off in the sandstorms and said to him, "Listen, Welkin, I know it may sound crazy, but your love for Alicia may have given me and Sora a new power within ourselves. If you would like, I'll take care of the Marmota myself and give you guys a moment's rest." Welkin could only smile though this endeavour as he replied, "It's as I told Alicia, we don't any special powers to claim 'real victory'. You've all been a big help, but we got to win this together not divided and separated." Victor nodded as both he and Welkin looked to the sky and the second Welkin was asked by Cpt. Varrot what their next order was. Their next stop was Castle Randgriz and Maximillian.

(A stunning chapter I should say. As the old saying goes, 'love conquers all' and so forth. I didn't do a lot with General Jaeger for this one due to major edits here and there in the next few chapters of this story. To the best convenience I have, there is one more chapter after this and then it's off to Sunset Horizons with Mike and co. Believe me when I say, this story is as good as done. More on the go as it happens.)

(Next time: The End of Maximillian.)


	51. Chapter 50

The End of Maxillian

As Victor, Sora and co. made their way back to Randgriz with many of the members of Squad 7 right behind them squaring off against many of Maximillian's Imperials and as they arrived in Randgriz, found that the front gate was dismantled by a gigantic metallic 'beast'. It was the Marmota from back in the Kloden Wildwoods and up at the top of the mechanical nightmare, Maximillian awaited his foes with great anticipation. Alicia, Welkin, Victor, Sora, Donald and Henry went up top to find Maximillian, via Victor's instantaneous imaginative powers, which teleported them to the top without fail.

There awaiting them, Maximillian was in stunning, silver armor, covering his once white robed body, and in his right and left hands, a Valkyrian Lance and Shield: the same ones from Princess Cordelia's throne room. Welkin asked, "Alright Maximillian, what've you done with Princess Cordelia?" The mighty prince laughed sinisterly pointing his mighty weapon to his foes and Victor saw the _darkness_ in his eyes. Victor shocked sensed something familiar in the form of deja vu. Sora also picked up on this as well feeling the same dark energy coming off of Maximillian. "So you little vermin thought that you could just get past my brilliant creation and get away with a short pleasure cruise did you?", he growled at our heroes. Victor then said, "What manner of being are you then? You clearly are not Maximillian, from what I can see." "I am...Darkness, half of your power and half of your being. I represent the future of this world and all who oppose the 'dark'. This foolish man sought out vengeance upon his own people for trying to kill him when his mother died in a terrible train accident. His heart clung to me like a babe to a mother for sustenance. Such a pity, he grew up under my wing and like your precious friend Riku, grew powerful because of it. All it cost him was the beautiful Selvaria's life.", Darkness revealed himself through Maximillian.

Sora, Victor, Donald and Henry grew shocked and gasped as Alicia and Welkin turned to them and asked about Darkness. Victor then told Welkin, "Darkness is my essentially as his name implies, my sin my own personal dark feelings within me incarnate as a being...half a being that is. However, I defeated him in my own mind and we fused together though. So then how did you escape then Darkness? Some new power or trick perhaps?" Maximillian's eyes turned completely white as Darkness said, "I essentially became a different being when you fused with me boy. I was able to separate myself from you and become a whole being once I came into this world. With this man as my puppet I shall fulfill Pyros' dreams and plunge this world into darkness itself. With my powers, I can burst through any keyhole, be they locked or unlocked. But before I do, I shall test my new found powers on you all first." Darkness destroyed the Marmota in split second, severing any connections to the Imperials and Squad 7 and they were all teleported into a 'black abyss', void of any life and any help from friends at all.

(For this next battle, I chose Guardano Nel Buio as the main song for this since it is the most appropiate.)

Maximillian launched a fiersome giant blue lazer blast towards Alicia and Welkin, just as it would've hit them on the bullseye, Sora and Victor jumped right in front of it, deflecting the mighty blast as best they could: Kingdom Key and Sword of Light combined. Maximillian demonstrated his might and power to the rest of the group with ease: Alicia ran until she was only ten feet away from the possessed man and shot him twenty times right in his face, under neath his protective armor. To no avail, Darkness grabbed hold of the girl and slammed her into a hard like wall, he crafted from the abyss itself. It entangled itself around Alicia in the form of black thorns, which pierced her delicate skin, making her bleed rose coloured blood.

Welkin gritting his teeth ran fast as he could behind Maximillian exposing his weakness near his back by open firing forty bullets right across a mechanical backpack providing electricity throughout the Valkyrian Lance and Shield he held. Likewise, Maximillian went behind Welkin and blasted him away with his shield and entangled him in a barrage of black thorns and gooey black ooze. Darkness laughed sinisterly as clouds began forming over the land of Gallia. All seemed lost indeed: Rosie and Largo tried to calm the other squad elites in Squad 7 down, as the Princess Cordelia looked onward from her palace balcony into a dark cloudy sky beginning to form over their land. Donald and Henry tried their luck together combining Henry's quick yet precise attacks with Donald's magic against the mechanical backpack of Maximillian's, but the monstrous blonde man blasted away the two with his Valkyrian Lance capturing them in a black ooze as well.

Victor then thought, 'So that's how he's doing it. He's not really trying to destroy us: he only wants to do battle with me. Typical...now only thing I..." just before he could finish his thought, Sora ran in his golden armored suit with his fake Sword of Light towards Darkness attempting to do some damage against him, succeeding very little in the long run as he also got captured and tossed into black ooze as well, leaving Victor alone to square off against this newly empowered foe: a vast sea of 'darkness' against a tiny island of 'light'. Victor squared off against Darkness, lashing out against the being's great power, not gaining an inch and getting battered around by the man's lance as he was blasted in his stomach, smacked in the face by the mighty Valkyrian shield and blown away by Darkness' great power. Sora and the others couldn't bear to watch as Darkness slowly gained the upperhand in this fight. "What good is a tiny flicker of light against a great sea of Darkness? You clung to the light and its power for so long, you forgot how invincible you could be boy. So why? Why choose the light? Even your friends have given up on you." Victor getting blown away by another great Valkyrian blast from the lance did about ten back flips until he clung his Sword of Light into the ground to slow down his projected flying distance. Wiping off the blood from his left cheek Victor laughed confidently. Watching carefully, Henry looked up as did Donald, Sora, Alicia and Welkin gasping as this occured.

Darkness gritted his teeth in the form of Maximillian as he asked, "What's so funny?!?!?!" "You are Darkness. You never learn. Worlds could fall into and be saved from Darkness many times. My heart was lost to you many times: the first being when I left my own home in Calgary. But so what? Did I lose my fight against bad guys like you? No. Did Sora give up fighting the Darkness when things got rough? No. I find it ironic at how slow you've gotten. Even with the power of Darkness, you villains never did hold a candle to me: the greatest villian of all time. For you see, no matter how great you think you are: Darkness will never be invincible. Light is invincible because it has determination, which you lack. Darkness has strength though, which Light lacks, yet good always wins with determination. No amount of power can change that.", Victor said. Darkness roared into Victor's face, "SILENCE!!!!!" as he grabbed the boy with one hand and said, "What power does this light of yours have that I don't? You are about to die and nothing will change that either. Since I am not bound by your laws anymore, I can't die when you do either. So it looks like I win." Victor smiled as Henry and Sora looked to each other and shrugged shoulders.

Yet from out of nowhere, Faldio Landzaat ran quickly to the mechanical backpack and severed its connections to the lance and shield to which he said, "That'll teach you to be so ignorant. We were both fools. Fools who were trying to conquer the powers of the Valkyria. I'm sorry I didn't realize that when I had the chance to realize that when I did. I'm sorry Welkin, Alicia and to everyone in Squad 7 and especially our foreign friends from other worlds." Welkin smiled with Alicia confidently. Soon Sora and Henry smiled confidently as Victor regained his power and shattered the black abyss and dispersed Darkness from the world of the 'Anime Planet' let alone Gallia. Maximillian's body dissolved and vanished into thin air as everyone arrived back in Gallia. Shortly thereafter, Welkin, Alicia, Squad 7 and Victor and co. were all called to Princess Cordelia's throne room for medals of honor and for saving them from the very clutches of evil and darkness itself. Faldio, also being redeemed was rewarded the greatest medal of all: The Medal of Bravery and Light, a single recognition of great valor, friendship before duty, and goodness before glory.

Victor bowed to Princess Cordelia as did Sora, Henry and Donald saying, "You majesty, we were humbled to help in any way we could, but we must be on our way regretfully. Other worlds may require our assistance and the Squadron will not rest until they have their goal met: ultimately, it could also involve the destruction of this very universe as we know it." Loud gasps filled the air, as Prime Minister Borg was sent off to jail for trying to bartyr the Princess' life for his own upon meeting Maximillian. Sora asked Victor, "Is this really true?" Victor nodded as he told Sora, "Mike and I along with Chris were reporting our findings along this journey while you guys often trailed off to sleep, being responsible for this world and others and all. We came across something startling though in that Book of Secrets we found in that chain of sewers a while back. It was a prophecy that warned of a great destruction that could befall the universe should all the Princesses of Life be gathered together with the Oracle of Destiny: namely Henry Capulet here. There's not a lot of time to explain, we must go now." Yet even as they did, Alicia gave Sora a lion's paw flower: essentially a double stemmed dandelion for luck and wished them luck as they disappeared into one of Victor's white portals.

(A crazy twist, I should say. Darkness has been revived and he isn't too happy either. Anyways I'd like to take a step back and talk about another story I was working on before, but sadly got interrupted on again and again: the Perfect Trio. So why go back to it then? While it isn't as glamerous as the other stories I have written, it still is very essential to the Eternal Beyond and of course Victor, Mike and Chris meeting Sora though. Since it is a very long story though I thought I would split it up into 4 volumes, just to lighten the load and also because each of these four volumes has a different tone than the other: the first one is the darkest of them all and ultimately the saddest, the second more or less like KH1, the third volume is a lot like KH 2/ 358/2 days, and the last volume a mix of the first volume and second volume.)


	52. Chapter 51

Sand here, sand there

It was a perilous journey leaving the Anthrogaunt behind them to a sandier, hotter place. Sunset Horizons as they soon arrived there was like nothing they had ever seen before (except for Mickey of course). Canyons covered a vast area of the land, dust blew so hard with prevailing winds that inhaling a tiny breath of it could stuff you and your lungs full of the stuff for weeks maybe even months.

Mike took out a map of the area searching for a clear spot to make up camp and plan the group's next attack against the Squadron. Mickey and Torahne decided to help Mike out by carrying some of the odd equipment they had even including the Book of Secrets that Mike gave to Sora, but also took back just as easily.

[Flasback]

(Bear with me here, since this was from a previous chapter before in the sewers where Mike told Sora and his co. to head to Mars for some odd mission from before).

It was on Mars of course that Sora and co. were reading the Book of Secrets for more clues as to what they were searching for in the first place on the red planet, but all were for not as they were coming on empty on ideas. Luckily thanks to their armor as well, they were provided protection from the harsh cold and intense environment of the Martian planet. Even Donald and Goofy were protected thanks to Donald's magic staff making them invulnerable against the red, oxygen-less rocky terrain.

Sora asked, "What in all that is good and decent are we looking for anyway on this rock?"

Mickey kept reading some more translations of the Book of Secrets. {"Whomever shall find my secret hiding spot to the Door of Perfidiousness, shall not only seek great power, but indeed will encounter great troublesome danger as well should they pursue it so. It is not near cold icy snow, nor is it near river, creek or lake, but rather on a rock that has a red glow."}

Mickey then said, "I sure as heck am stumped then. The last clue says that it should be on this planet, but they don't give specifics."

Torahne tapped Mickey as he asked, "Can I see the book for a moment?"

Mickey nodded and gave him the decrepit, old book as Torahne turned pages over and back looking for clues. Then it hit him on the head like an iron over his pants.

Torahne said to Sora, Mickey, Kairi, Henry, Riku, Donald and Goofy, "You guys may want to check this out. I think I may have found a clue."

Torahne then read aloud the phrase to which he received his brilliant piece of information. {"From the dusty barren landscape are not any physical tracks, droppings or any markings, but a message instead. It is from deep within that your next clue lies about the chosen one, the wielder of a great power who will indeed save us all from total destruction, not in paradise, but a land where brick is made of copper and streets are made of lead."}

Goofy then asked, "So does that mean it's nearby then?"

Torahne and Mickey shook their heads. Torahne then said, "Not a chance Goofy. We're technically on the wrong planet then. Mike must have sent us here on purpose then to keep us busy."

Sora then asked, "But why would he want to do that?"

Behind a set of rugged and dagger-like rocks, Mike in his black armor oversaw the situation with Sora and co. (Mickey and Torahne along with Riku with them at the time).

Mike then thought to himself, 'Good thing I came just in time. Now for sure I know that it's not here. That ought to buy me some time while I search the perimeters on Sunset Horizons.' With that, Mike disappeared as quickly as he entered the area into a black portal.

Torahne then said, "Well since that was a bust I guess we might as well leave."

Donald then asked, "But to where exactly?"

"I know of a good place. Perfect in fact. You guys will love it.", Torahne said as he summoned a portal to head to what Torahne would call Cherrywood.

[Present]

It wasn't too long before Riku spotted something amongst the rocky pillars of Sunset Horizons that caught his attention. He warned to Mike and the gang reading the map of his, "Uh guys, we got company."

Surely as Mike had heard this he said, "It's already too late to run Riku."

Riku looking at Mike confused wanted an answer as Mike said, "You see you guys, I'm sure you already knew that me sending you to Mars was a wild goose chase to get the Squadron off our backs so that I could find out about a certain item of business: The Chosen."

Torahne asked, "The Chosen?" Mike nodded as he overheard the boy ask in his right ear.

"The Chosen is as the Book of Secrets describes a youthful lad with great power and wisdom beyond his years. He is described to have the power to destroy the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility of which are both on this planet. If we plan our cards right we can do this before sundown tomorrow night.", Mike continued.

Mickey then asked, "So you know where we're going?" To which Mike nodded and continued, "Yeah, but the method to which we're going is not going to be easy."

Mickey then asked, "But why?" To which Mike pointed and before they knew it they all had large, pointed spears dangling in their faces by tall brown cloaked people in all directions.

One of them dressed in a grey cloak said, "You are all in violation of trespassing on the sacred lands of the Hootis. Thus by the power invested in me by the great elder Marx place you all under arrest for suspicious interloping and loitering."

Torahne then whispered to Mike, "Can they really do that?"

"Different world, different laws; what can I say? As long as we're on their land, they call the shots, which is what I was hoping for.", Mike said.

Torahne then asked as they were taken to a dark cave heading down into the dark depths and cool, moist caverns, "Why is that now?"

Mike then said as they arrived in the destination, "Because of that." Everywhere there were statues that looked like Torahne in every way possible. His hair was chiseled to perfection, they were made of pure solid gold, and each one covered a long square inch of city streets that made up the underground metropolis of 'Rock Bottom'.

(Next Time: Negotiations.)


	53. Chapter 52

Negotiations

Mike, Torahne, Riku and King Mickey were soon taken into a large clay-like building, where inside was a rather large office if you will, filled with bookshelves and other clutter you'd expect for someone important. Just as quickly as they had arrived in this barren world they were soon taken prisoner by a group of incognito like inhabitants.

Soon enough, as they arrived because of the grey cloaked man and two of his brown cloaked guards, a chair soon swung around from behind a grey desk and the man sitting in his large beige chair slammed his hands on the desk in utter disarray.

The grey cloaked man said with his guards pointing spears at Mike in particular, "My liege, we have captured outsiders that were trespassing near our borders. What do you request I do with them?"

The man sitting in the beige chair was an old fellow. He wore a snowy white colored cloak, scars covered his hands and a blindfold covered his eyes. His face wrinkled and lacking of luster at all took a gaze upon Mike and co. to see what was what.

"Leave them with me Pyros.", the old man said. Then Pyros objecting to his decision said, "But my liege, these interlopers are…"

"Are you going against my wishes?", the old man asked. Then Pyros bowed to his leader as he waved his left hand telling the guards to let down their guard. He then stormed out quickly with no delay, slamming the hard stone door behind him.

"Pretty angry disciple you have there.", Mike said. The old man nodded as Mike said this.

"That was Pyros, the lead of my militant army and my right hand. I wish that there was more I could do for my people though.", the old man said.

Mickey then asked, "What makes you say that?"

"It is a long, depressing story that no foreigner could understand even with proper knowledge.", the old man continued.

Mickey then said, "We've heard all sorts of stories. In fact the tall brunette in the lean blue jeans and black t-shirt has had a million of these as a kid."

Mike gave a brief, yet mature smile to this comment as Mickey said this as the old man looked upon Mike carefully and swiftly. He studied his facial features and his man-like appearance. He then looked at Torahne and then looked out his window to an unsuspecting crowd of people that walked along the rocky streets of Rock Bottom without a care in the world.

"If you all so desire the truth about why I said I wish I could do more for my people, so be it. My people's story begins ages ago, long before you were even born…", the old man said aloud.

Over the course of his story, the old man explained that his people, the Tarman, were a vastly superior race of peoples that used to live on a lush tropical world. There they were provided with great fruit, sustenance and it was there they developed as a race. It was also there that evil sprung up on their people. Over a century before Mike's parents were even born, a drought occurred on the world that slowed the development of crops, and rivers once teeming with life, were bone dry within decades. Soon enough they declared war on themselves for suspicions amongst the populace for lechery, hoarding of valuables, and many other traitorous things. The war went on for almost three decades (up to 1956 to be exact). Soon after the world rain had come down for the first time in almost a century, but a little too late unfortunately. The world was nearly devoid of all tropical trees that made up its surface and was replaced by blood, desert and very little wildlife and forests remained after the war had been through.

It was a few years later that the old man, Tarak, was born and saw that the damage done upon his world because of their selfish war was too much to bear on the world of Harmonis, of which they called home. Soon after Tarak took over 90% of the remaining population that did remain from the war along with whatever supplies they had left to Sunset Horizons (now apparently Keyblade Graveyard from the KH BBS updates). The rest that did stay on the world were subject to starvation and cannibalism. Their once harmonious lifestyle ended and within a decade of finding nothing to eat in the world of "Keyblade Garden", discovered an underground river of water just below the surface in a nearby cave were they set up their new lives as denizens of the earth and adapted to their new life style. Yet even as they left behind the world of Harmonis, they carried a legend with them that said this:

"A youth, tall and proud, chiseled in facial features and brunette of hair started our peoples' history and in the grip of despair has always been the one to free us from fear. Should evil knock at our very door, he shall arise from afar to protect us all. Seek him out should you wish to preserve our people's legacy and our name forever."

Mike then said, "That's quite a story there, so what does that have to do with us?"

"It has everything to do with you all. With your great powers and abilities to travel many worlds, you can free my people from where I had failed as a young lad.", Tarak said.

Torahne then said, "There's a problem though. Mike and I are both tall brunettes. So then one of us could easily be the chosen and the other couldn't. So then how would you know who is who?"

Tarak scratched his chin and then took out a green book from his tallest bookshelf to the left of his grey desk. He read aloud and clear so that they all could hear:

"In legend it is said a tall brunette shall free us from destruction and fear. However, there is another that will save us from a greater evil than that of drought, starvation or any other monster imaginable.

"The Chosen" of the Tarman will be decided because his appearance will match that of what legend has depicted: green eyes, brunette hair, beat up clothing (blue jeans and a brown shirt). He would aid the Tarman in their retreat back to Harmonis, where recovery of the world was sure to be imminent.

The other chosen will be a boy from a far away world, where life hangs on, but often in chance and in survival. He will be declared the 'hero of heroes' and granted the title of 'Prince of Light'. He would deliver the universe from destruction and save it when the time was right."

Baffled by all of this Mike was then asked that fateful question. Tarak asked, "Would you foreigners, if given the choice to do so, help us in our time of need?" It was there and then that Mike came up with a plan that would satisfy everyone.

(Next Time: Mike's Plan.)


	54. Chapter 53

Mike's Plan

It was there and then Mike came up a bold strategy right off the bat from where he stood on the situation with Tarak and the Tarman clan of people. He came right out with the idea the second it came to mind. He then took a five minute timeout to discuss his idea with Mickey, Riku and Torahne personally first though.

"Tarak, with great honor and respect Torahne humbly takes upon this quest to give back your home on the condition that you can give us information if you have any at all about the Squadron and their plans here in your humble city. Also we believe there is some connection to the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility here that we'd love to know if at all possible.", Mike responded valiantly.

Tarak took in this information with some thought and responded to Mike saying, "It was a fortnight ago that they were first spotted on this world. They mentioned about finding some trinkets that looked like rings. They called them 'Destiny Crests' apparently and mentioned something like what you said about these doors you speak of. Pyros and I actually alone know of where they are. If you'd like I'd be happy to show them to you."

Yet as soon as they got outside, the whole Twilight Town lookalike city of Rock Bottom seemed to be under attack by the Squadron as quickly as Mike and co. got their information. So thus Mike transformed into his black suit of armor as did Mickey into his brown suit of armor and Riku into a similar dark suit like Mike. Torahne then summoned his keyblade and the group was ready for a showdown fight.

From the crowds of black hooded men came a lone man in a dark red cloak. As he crept closer to our heroes he took off his hood to reveal a giant that had a remarkable similarity to Lexaeus only that his eyes were hazel in color instead of blue and his weapon of choice was none other than a twin sided axe. Troops began to swarm Mike and co. as they fought against all the troops the man sent at them one by one.

Mike then stopped all the nonsense as he said to the Lexaeus lookalike, "You're not here to fight. You're here to find the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility aren't you?"

The man held out his left hand to stop the chatter and then said, "I am Redtorch, one of the squadron's top generals of which are eight, five of whom remain alive to this day. I am indeed here to find that of which you said, young 'hero of heroes'. I would indeed start searching for them if you know what's good for you."

"And what if we refuse?", Riku said confidently.

A man a grey cloak appeared from behind Redtorch and revealed himself to be a blonde man with green eyes and a soft tender face: Pyros. "I'm in command here now you little ingrates. As of right now I have taken control of the city and even as we speak the entire city will be searched from top to bottom if necessary. So I would be careful what your next words are out of your mouths you got that?", Pyros said with extreme anger.

Mike shook his head as he said this and the guards held their spears towards the group as Pyros walked closer to gaze into Mike's eyes. "What in the world is so amusing boy? Do I have spinach in my teeth? Do I have a funny grin?", Pyros asked.

Mike then said, "Oh it's nothing really. I just thought if you were all mighty and powerful, then how come you need the aid of one of the weakest members of the Squadron to do your bidding?"

"Silence! You vermin are all alike. Luckily your chatter only buys my troops more time to find those doors and to hopefully release their power once the rest of the Squadron can finally show up.", Pyros continued.

Mike quickly pulled out a smoke bomb from a belt attached to his waist and tossed it in the middle of the empty streets of Rock Bottom leaving Redtorch and Pyros along with many of their soldiers baffling and gasping for air. Redtorch then swung his axe in the air eliminating the smoke from the area and then said to his troops, "Spread out. Find them and report immediately once you get a signal or some trace of those blaggards!!"

Pyros breathed in heavily as this occurred and smacked Redtorch over his head. "This is your fault you know. This is your fault and you better pray that we find them or our deal is off and I destroy those doors the second I find them with or without the aid of your troops!!", Pyros exclaimed.

Redtorch could only laugh at this (I'd be surprised if Lexaeus could laugh at anything really).

Pyros looking eerily into his eyes sensed something strange about the man, almost as if he was calm or content as he laughed. "What on earth is so funny? They got away on your watch!!", Pyros exclaimed once more.

"Really? Because my little toy says otherwise…", Redtorch pulled out a little gadget from his robe pockets which looked like a cross between a bomb detonator and a cell phone with a bizarre set of switches designed for all sorts of mayhem. One of them even had a button labeled 'Target tractor' as he pressed the switch a red button appeared on screen hinting that he planted a bug on Mike.

[Flashback]

As Mike tossed the smoke bomb into the center of the cavern, rock like street, Redtorch got to work and stealthily snuck a little glowing device in his back pocket. Then Redtorch activated his device as he ran back to where he and Pyros were standing before.

[Present]

Redtorch then said as he watched the red button drift further away from them on screen, "That's right little guinea pig run. You'll only trap yourself and lead us to the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility. Either way I win." He along with Pyros watched as the red dot was pursued with other red dots that were of course Squadron foot soldiers hot on their "tail".

(That is a lot to take in I know. Thus I figured it'd be easier on studies and myself if I made my chapters considerably shorter of course and improvised on the rest of the story. So from here on out each chapter will likely be around five or six long paragraphs, give or take a few. The reason why Mike knows where the Doors of Perfidiousness and Tranquility are in this particular place will be explained in the next few chapters to come. Stay tuned for more.)

(Next Time: Mystery solved.)


	55. Chapter 54

Mystery Solved

Mike and co. made their way down many intersecting caverns and rocky paths, narrowly falling into bottomless pits and getting lost along the way of course especially in an eerie place such as this. All along the way, they occasionally stopped as Mike kept getting messages on his laptop from Cpt. Varrot from Europa, the same place Victor along with Sora and co. were in fighting off Imperials and participating in the Second Europan War.

Eventually after a long search of the dark, mucky chasms and dark abyss of caverns, they came up against a giant wall with mysterious writing and was accompanied by two lit torches beside a golden alter of some sort and a slot in the centre in the exact same shape of a book. Mike quickly analyzed the area, and with no one in sight said to Torahne, "Give me the Book of Secrets. There's something not right about all this and I think I got a reason why that is."

Torahne quickly gave Mike the book to which he said, "Just as I thought…" He then placed it in with no troubles as the entire alter began to glow and the torches blew themselves out. The writing on the wall began to glow as well in kind, but in a blue color contrasting the red color hue that alter had been glowing.

Mike then said, "Tarak, from what I have studied before, this is ancient Tarman and obviously I do not know a word, so can you please come up here and translate."

Tarak nodded as Mike requested this and read aloud: "From many ages past, wars were fought, lands destroyed and rebuilt, peoples slaughtered and saved, but if anything his story is more important than all these combined.

Torpacilke, Tarman for 'hero of heroes' was known as sweet gentle soul by the communities he knew and the people he was beloved by. He had two younger brothers: Ikilis, 'light within dark' and Drakthin, 'balance warrior'. Together, all of these brothers were heirs to their father's throne, but Torpacilke rightful heir to the throne claimed it as his own when both parents died.

It was as of that moment that Ikilis declared war with whoever was at his side at this outrageous turn of events against Torpacilke as did Drakthin on both of his brothers to convince them to stop this madness before it was too late. Because of their actions, the land they owned was overrun by civil war and loyalty vs. betrayal amongst all their peoples. They nearly perished, their world of Harmonis, but at the last moment Ikilis conceded and as an act of contrition with Drakthin were granted the throne as well provided that Torpacilke would rule as the true king of Harmonis. He also vowed that they would never again declare war against each other and that they would be rightful protectors of the universe.

It was also said that should their talents be required ever again, that their powers be bestowed in their respective weapons of choice: Torpacilke had his superhuman powers sent into the Sword of Darkness, Ikilis had his powers of imagination sent into the Sword of Light, and Drakthin had his powers of strength and agility sent into the Sword of Balance. All these weapons were then sent to the crystal land of all worlds: a place that no stars could shine on this 'jewel' in the dark and where the famed Moon of Eternity was hailed to be. So take head in this warning young traveler. Do not let these Doors of Perfidiousness and Tranquility fall into evil. Their purpose was designed to keep the balance of Eternal Death intact. Should something change that balance, all shall be lost."

After catching his breath, Tarak sat down as Mike began studying what he just heard.

"So it would seem that I'm the one that has to lock the Doors of Perfidiousness and Tranquility should we want to preserve the peace in these worlds then. So be it then. Let's go everyone, beyond this wall is the Doors to Perfidiousness and Tranquility.", Mike said with confidence.

Tarak then read the wall once more as Mike began searching the area for a switch or something to give him a clue.

"My boy wait.", Tarak insisted.

"You have something in mind Tarak?", Mike asked.

Tarak read once more and gave a short pause. "There's more on the wall than what I translated. Listen to this: To find the sacred doors, one doesn't look for a switch, a knob or for any clue at all. One instead must trust their own heart to find the way and that alone in order to find what they seek."

Mike then asked, "How does one do that then?"

Mickey then searched the area and took out his keyblade and pointed to a keyhole he noticed above the writing on the wall. Riku then said to Mike, "Oh I see now. Look at what Mickey's pointing his keyblade at?"

Mike then saw the keyhole and said, "Aha. This riddle is a trick question. One doesn't look for a physical clue, but a spiritual one that can only be found by the heart: the Heart of the World." Mickey then opened the keyhole and the wall and alter vanished in a blinding light, revealing a long chain of stairways with a blue hue of light coming from below. As they headed down these stairs, they saw images of tall warriors who looked like each of Mike, Victor and Christopher, each with dark brunette, chestnut brown, and strawberry brown hair with brown eyes as well and each with their own respective armor: black for the tallest warrior, white for the second tallest, and brown for the shortest. Each named respectively: Torpacilke was the black armored warrior, Ikilis as the white armored warrior and Drakthin as the brown armored warrior.

They soon came down to the bottom of the stairs to a single path. It led of course to the heart of Keyblade Graveyard and was blocked off by a boulder carved door with a single lock at its center. At each side was another door that held different powers of their own: The green door or Door of Tranquility, held the power of youth and immortality in its rank and the purple door or Door of Perfidiousness held the power of strength and intelligence within its borders. Each one as well had a single lock but on a door knob made of pure gold.

Torahne then said "Well I'm ready when you guys are." Yet as they summoned their keyblades, someone yelled, "Not so fast!!"

From a dark portal, came a blonde haired Pyros and Redtorch, who each summoned their own respective weapons of choice: Pyros chose a sword made up of pure titanium and ore with a silver crusted handle to hold in his hands while Redtorch summoned his twin sided axe. "That's as far as you'll go. Once we're through with you all, there won't even be ashes left to scrape up.", Redtorch said.

Soon enough, Torahne and Riku with Mickey summoned their keyblades and Mike transformed into his black armored suit while summoning his Sword of Darkness preparing for battle.

(Next Time: Turning Point.)


	56. Chapter 55

Turning Point

Mike and co. were poised to strike as were Pyros and Redtorch with great strength and intellect on their side. Mike went after Pyros of course, slashing at the man and his cloak several times, missing every time. Pyros punched Mike in the stomach and slashed him twenty times across the chest of his armor with his sword, seemingly gaining the upper hand. Mike was then flung into the air, to which he huddled into a ball and flames soon engulfed him and struck Pyros hard and flung him deep into the canyon walls, destroying his cloak and revealing a man wearing a dark black cape and in a red silky shirt with tight leather boots underneath his black pants.

Meanwhile Torahne and Mickey along with Riku fought Redtorch, who with a single swing of his double sided axe blew them all to opposite ends four times when they came within striking distance of his body. Torahne was on his knees as he got hit the fourth time around and Redtorch beckoning had said, "Foolish little cretins. Don't you realize that all is lost for you all? This world shall fall. The doors will be ours and none shall ever stand in the path of the Squadron again!!!"

All the while, Mike was getting beat to a pulp by Pyros since the man literally knew all of Mike's moves off by heart. Pyros then grabbed Mike by the neck and flung him towards Mickey, Torahne and Riku as he said with great power in his words, "It would seem the 'hero of heroes' isn't as powerful as I thought he would be. Such an insult this is indeed to my status."

Mike slowly stood up and put in more power into his Sword of Darkness as Pyros transformed into his demonic like stature. Indeed he was a dark being as he stood as tall as Redtorch at 8 feet and could command armies of dark soldiers to do what he commanded. In this case he summoned a mix of dark angels, squadron members and pureblood heartless to his side.

"This day is mine and mine alone you pitiful creature.", Pyros exclaimed in a harsh manner.

Mike gritted his teeth and asked, "Who are you supposed to be then anyway?"

"It is I, Pyros, the great creator of Darkness and the ultimate soldier of evil. My one true goal is this and this alone: unite this world and all others under a single roof of darkness and evil. Through the Moon of Eternity's powers of immortality and light and with aide from Kingdom Hearts I shall spread my reign far and wide. I alone can only have the power to do so, but only with the legendary 'Swords of Destiny'.", Pyros rambled.

Mike looked to his Sword of Darkness as his dark powers filled it with great strength and precision.

"The 'Swords of Destiny': you mean my Sword of Darkness?", Mike asked.

Pyros nodded as Redtorch shooed the armies of heartless and squadron members away temporarily.

"It is through these weapons: the Sword of Darkness, the Sword of Light and the Sword of Balance that I can achieve these goals. Yet in order to claim these weapons, I must slay each of whom wields each of these swords. Only then can I claim what's rightfully mine!", Pyros continued to ramble.

Mike confidently said, despite the wounds he gained from Pyros' great skills, "What makes you so sure I'll just give them up to you like that?"

Pyros smiled sinisterly as he pulled Torahne towards his side using his left hand to magnetically draw him closer and forced out Torahne's darkness, causing his eyes to turn yellow, his hair to become silver and he began to age exponentially. Mike shocked at this display steadied himself for a fight he would not soon forget.

Pyros then said, "Say hello to a former enemy your precious friends would call Xehanort. Now is your chance to redeem yourself. Fight the 'hero of heroes' and defeat him and you shall have your just reward."

Mike unfortunately would have to confront the boy in his elder like state in order to return him to his previous state.

[Flashback]

A white haired man in a heavy chest armor, blue pants, and in tight black boots stared out at the ocean gaze with his evil orange-yellow like eyes as the sunset over the horizon miles away from his location. Xehanort, being revived once Xemnas was defeated found himself on Destiny Island, was confronted by a man in a dark hooded suit. It was Sirion, the leader of the uprising Squadron and all of the Soulless he commanded at his side.

Sirion then said, "So you must be Xehanort. It must be a shame to lose to such a bunch of weaklings you know."

Xehanort gritting his teeth dashed for Sirion dashed towards the hooded man to subdue him, but missed as Sirion sent Xehanort slamming into the beach. Next he threw the man high into the air and slashed at his body with his rainbow colored sword, causing many great injuries to the man and pointed his sword at him with great disgust at him.

"How you ever were a challenge to anyone is beyond me. You can hardly stand, let alone fight at your capacity.", Sirion stated.

Xehanort felt the ground open beneath him as he smiled confidently, falling into the darkness where he changed into his elder like state (Master Xehanort of course) and then in the blink of an eye, Darkness' hold over him disappeared as Torahne fell through into a blinding light, where he would meet an old friend and some new ones along the way…

[Present]

"You don't have to do this Torahne. Can't you see he's using you?", Mike asked.

Xehanort was handed a gladiator like sword and darkness soon swept him over like dust under rug as he prepared to clash with Mike in an epic, brutal battle of proportions.

(To give some explanation here, I sort of made Torahne out to be of course Master Xehanort from the recently released game of KH BBS as a way of showing how he could have been consumed by 'Darkness' and chose the path he sought. It's all explained in the "Perfect Trio" (volume one of course) where competition and friendship made him fight his own best friend and become he is right now. Torahne to be honest will have a tragic end, not because he wasn't strong enough to fight, but because of the choices he makes in the next chapters to come.)

(Next time: Mike vs. Xehanort.)


	57. Chapter 56

Mike vs. Xehanort

Xehanort lashed out at Mike with Torahne's old red-black keyblade to which Mike dodged with great ease. Mike then punched Xehanort in his stomach, to which Xehanort slashed Mike's armor with a powerful hit too.

So powerful it was in fact, that a tiny piece of the armor came off and fell with a loud thud. Mickey awoke from his unconsciousness and took out his keyblade to try and aide Mike. Mike held out his sword from of Mickey though as if to block his entry into battle.

Mike clashed with Xehanort and even as their weapons began to crush each other with the other's power, electric shocks fired everywhere, causing the area to get slashed and torn. Soon enough a giant hole appeared above Mike and Xehanort, as they fought each other at par.

Mike slashed at Xehanort's keyblade four times, to which he tried to slice open Mike's right leg, but the boy caught a glimpse of his move before he could perform it and made a backflip just in time and zapped the man in his chest with the Sword of Darkness' great aura.

Meanwhile, Redtorch then said to Pyros, "My liege with all due respect, we must leave. This place will soon collapse and we'll all be trouble." Pyros shook his head at this request.

"We're too close to just flee now Redtorch. I have spent three thousand years learning about the secrets to these Doors. That was why I sent you all out to gather the Princesses of Life and the Oracle Hand Maidens in the first place. These doors have appeared because we have them in our possession.", Pyros said. Redtorch then explained briefly to his leader that Kairi, whom was also known as a Princess of Life, was not captured though and Pyros began to burst into flames over this.

He choked Redtorch saying, "Unacceptable! I want that girl brought to me now! If I have to come after you and the rest of the Squadron Generals, I will destroy you myself if given the opportunity." Redtorch nodded at this request and disappeared into a dark, black portal.

Meanwhile, Mike and Xehanort were both beginning to tire themselves out. Mike slashed at Xehanort so much that he began to revert back to his youthful stature as the one and only Torahne. Torahne almost collapsed, but thanks to quick action Mike saved the boy before his head could touch the hard, cold rock covered ground.

Mike then asked, "Why? Why Torahne did you do this?"

Torahne struggled to open his eyes and upon doing so said, "I had no choice."

[Flashback]

Torahne upon ridding himself of darkness sensed another greater evil falling with him in the abyss. This was Darkness' creator and a stronger foe like none other than he knew in his entire life. Pyros appeared like magic before in his large demonic state and flew with him down below through the never ending abyss.

"Who are you?", Torahne asked. "Who me? Why I am just another being passing through the great darkness young man. I am Pyros, the seeker of the dark and the harbinger of great destiny and evil. I have appeared before you because of the great darkness that I sensed inside of you.", Pyros explained.

Torahne punched the great being in the face twice and said, "Whatever you want me, count me out. I played into the hands of another dark being and betrayed my best friend doing so. I won't have any part in this."

Pyros then grabbed his right shoulder and said, "Come now boy. I only want what's best for you. I have no intention of using you for any misdeeds like Darkness with his pitiful revenge scheming. All I want is for you to open, but one single door for me."

Pyros summoned a large, tree bark beige door and on it was a single flower and a keyhole at the center of it. It was a cherry blossom flower, similar to those he saw in Cherrywood upon becoming Xehanort.

"Open this door and you shall see your destiny.", Pyros said.

"What is beyond the door if I may ask?", Torahne inquired.

"Beyond the door you see is a boy wielding a great weapon, forged from three great beings long ago. He in fact is one of three special boys that hold the key to opening a path to the great power of the Moon of Eternity. I want you to bring him to me.", Pyros said.

Torahne summoned with all his strength his red-black keyblade and in a single shot opened the door he saw before him and a great light shone as he saw his old friend from long ago. It was a chestnut brown brunette boy with dark charcoal colored eyes. Torahne felt sick to his stomach and felt tears come to his eyes.

"Oh no, I can't. I can't do this. He may have forgotten me, but I still won't hurt the guy. You won't make me do this.", Torahne said angrily looking to Pyros."

Pyros laughed sinisterly showing his true colors and saying, "I suppose you didn't know that I created 'Darkness', the great being that made you attack Victor all those years ago and made you what you are. But if you really are convinced of yourself, then fine leave and never return to my sight again. Be warned though, I will find you traitor. Either way, if you choose or choose not to serve me, I will still find and slay him and his siblings myself."

Torahne then got blown inside the door as the light disappeared, to where he did not know, but would eventually meet up with the boy and meet Sora and co.

Pyros then summoned Sirion to his side and asked, "Is all going according to plan then?" Sirion nodded quickly as he said this.

"Good. Then the seeds are already sown. Now we wait and see what becomes of that boy and his friends.", Pyros continued.

[Present]

(Next Time: Forgive and Forget.)


	58. Chapter 57

Forgive and Forget

Mike struggled to find the words to tell Torahne about his situation with Pyros, but apparently would not have to.

Torahne stood up and pointed his keyblade to the Doors of Perfidiousness. Riku and Mickey took out their keyblades after a brief gasp on their part, but Mike held out his right hand to stop them as Torahne said slowly regaining himself, "Please… let me redeem myself. I… have caused so much … trouble… please… forgive me."

Mike smiled and nodded as such and Torahne slowly stood on his own two feet and locked the Door to Perfidiousness.

Pyros steamed and steamed in anger as this occurred. He roared, "What is the meaning of this Xehanort?!? I demand you unlock that door at once!!"

Torahne pointed his keyblade at Pyros as Riku then locked the Door to Tranquility. "My name is Torahne. Learn it well. For I'm gonna wipe the floor with you."

Pyros laughed sinisterly as he said this summoning a dark portal. "My, my, such strong words from an insignificant bug. It would seem you also have some backbone to your strength as well. But, I wonder just how nimble you really are. Let us see what your old friend Victor would say to that?"

Pyros left laughing all the way with Torahne jumping into the portal with him. Yet before Mike could intervene, the dark portal shut closed right behind Torahne and in doing so left Mike, Riku and Mickey along with Tarak in Keyblade Graveyard all alone.

Together, they then locked the keyhole to Keyblade Graveyard, closing it off from destruction and saving the worlds from more destruction with the closing of the Doors of Perfidiousness and Tranquility.

Riku then asked, "So what's our next course of action then? We've already foiled their plans and stopped the Squadron haven't we?"

Tarak shook his head and said to the boy, "If it were only that simple. Pyros is a greedy man and a powerful one at that. Even without the sacred Doors at their whims, he could still find his way to the Moon of Eternity, let alone Kingdom Hearts because of the secret pathway that is there in waiting to be found. Nope, as long as Pyros and the Squadron are at large, no one is safe."

Hours passed as Mike cracked away inside his cranium to find a way of destroying or at the very least stopping Pyros before things got worse. All the while, he sent messages to Cpt. Varrot about his previous travels in the worlds and his unique position as the leader of this rebellious brigade. Commendable as it was to give another person faith, Mike came to his own realization as quickly as he saw it.

Mike stood up slowly after spending six hours sitting and typing on his laptop. He then said, "Gentlemen, I believe I have a way of defeating Pyros and his gang fighters he calls an army. Gather 'round and we'll get some elaboration on it." Soon enough, Mickey, Riku and Tarak were at Mike's beck and call as he continued telling his plan and unfortunately there were some iffy thoughts here and there: namely on Mike's choice of operation.

What Mike had decided was this: it would be inevitable for his younger brother and Torahne to eventually face off against each other because of Pyros and his manipulation. The plan would be relatively simple. They would lure Pyros and the Squadron to the Eternal Beyond and lead them straight to the Moon of Eternity. Now while it would be assumed that they would be playing straight into their hands, Mike remembered something he read from his father's journal a long time ago since written. There was a legendary prison on that world: an ancient one that long had since banished another old foe that was long since defeated by his father, Obeion. The plan would so ingenious that it would require the teamwork of not only Mike and his brothers, but also that of Mickey, Riku, Sora and various other survivors from other taken worlds by the Squadron so as to put an end to this once and for all.

Tarak sat down as Mike said all this and just shook his head. "Son, what you are suggesting is utter madness!! There is no way we'll be able to stand up to such a foe. He has more power than you count on each finger and you're telling me that we are luring him to the one place we shouldn't. Call me a party pooper or a quitter if you like, but I don't see this ending well for any of us if we go through with what you have planned.", Tarak said.

Mike then said to him, "We're all doomed if we let Pyros get to my brothers. This is the only way I can think of catching him off guard so that we buy them some more time to find us and then we can seal him away just in case there isn't a chance of destroying him."

Tarak smacked the ground and grabbed some sand from the bottom. He then said, "Maybe I'm a fool to believe in salvation. The Tamran's chosen one has been led into the darkness. If he's got no chance against such a demon, how do we stand any at all?"

Riku grabbed hold of Tarak's shoulder and said to him, "Believe it or not, I too was mislead by the darkness." Tarak looked up at the boy, despite being blind, but listening nonetheless.

Riku continued, "I thought all was lost for me. But I learned how to fight my demons and eventually overcame them, with some help from a very special friend." Even as he said this, Riku looked to the skies worrying about Sora, Kairi and other friends he knew.

Mike then said looking to Tarak, "He's right. Just remember. I am the 'hero of heroes'. Even in the greatest darkness there is always a hope, a light or a dream to follow. You of all people should know, especially when trying to lead your people to a safe haven: which I believe you can still do. Now my question is this, are you with us Tarak?"

Tarak looked to Riku, then to Mickey and then to Mike who all smiled as Mike held out his hand to Tarak and confidently Tarak breathed in heavily and threw his left hand at Mike's right hand offering to help him. It was settled. Phase 1 of 5 for Mike's plan was done: agreeing to stick with it when the going got tough.

The next would be to round up followers and relay a message to his siblings about the new change in plans and watch out for Pyros.

(Next Time: Redtorch vs. Riku.)


	59. Chapter 58

Redtorch vs. Riku

Heading back to Rock Bottom, the word was spread to many folk around the area of underground metropolis. Luckily, with Tarak at Mike's side, the people were willing to believe in a small grain of hope: that perhaps they could free themselves from their fate and head for a better tomorrow.

Mike then gathered each and every person together along the streets and patrolled the streets looking upon every man, woman and child that were present before him. Some of these people now were elderly, some were about Mike's age being in their early twenties and some were even young enough to be preteens. However, despite some weaknesses or drawbacks that Mike had seen, one thing remained on his mind unchanged.

Mike said aloud, "My fellow Tarmans. I come before you not as some legendary traveler with a group of fighters, but as a human being. Where I come from, we take care of our own. Where I come from, there's no such thing as give up and not a chance. Even now, Pyros a legendary man you guys entrusted with your military is now causing havoc as I speak now. I will not lie about what is at stake either. He plans to merge with the legendary Moon of Eternity."

Even as he said this people were gasping and conversing with fear as this was a dark omen.

Mike then continued, "But if we just can work as a team, I know that we can stop this monster. Even if we can't destroy him, we can imprison him and trap him forever. There's a legendary warp in space that my father discovered there and because of that very hole in the Eternal Beyond's atmosphere, it even managed to contain another deadly enemy I'm sure you've heard of: Oben."

More gasps occurred as Mike reassured them of their possibilities. "Alone we leave our lives to chance, but together we can form a greater alliance that not even Pyros could break let alone match up against. So as a human being and an ally, will you trust me now?", Mike asked.

A little girl, covered in rags, soot and of whom was sick tossed her left hand to Mike's signifying her choice to join him. Soon after many others joined her in trusting their lives with Mike. Phase 2 was officially complete. Moments later a mysterious clap could be heard as from the dark shadows Redtorch appeared.

"Very impressive. I never thought a man could rally such a force and a spirit in the lowliest of races. It's a pity. The Squadron could use a man like yourself.", Redtorch said. Before anyone could say a thing, Riku summoned his keyblade the Soul Eater and took out his own version of the Sword of Darkness.

"You talk pretty cheap for a guy with no soul.", Riku boasted. Redtorch gritted his teeth once he said that. Riku could only grin confidently as he felt his power begin to climb within himself. The boy ran forward and clashed with Redtorch and his mighty weapon of choice. The giant pushed back and scraped the ground as he raised his axe-like weapon into the air, narrowly missing Riku's chin.

Riku ducked for cover as Redtorch slashed the air around him scraping his pants. Riku then slid underneath his bulky cloak and slashed right at his back three times, but not before he got caught by the giant and thrown high into the air. Redtorch then charged his double sided axe with juice and a giant blast flew from the ground and appeared to have incinerated Riku.

The people could only fall to their knees watching this and some even began to cry. It would have seemed that their hope would have been placed by Mike's words into that boy himself.

Redtorch then looked at Mike and said laughing, "What a pathetic group you have. I barely have a scratch as you can clearly see and I just destroyed one of your best fighters. What chance does a mere boy have against a fighting force such as myself?" Even as Mickey summoned his keyblade Mike could only grin, shaking his head and his left index finger.

Redtorch amazingly asked Mike as he did this, "Why are you smiling?" To which as he turned around he felt his cheek get sliced open like a piece of bread.

Redtorch looking at his black glove touched his beat up face to find a bit of blood on it and could only wipe it off on his sleeves. He then ran to Riku clashing with his Soul Eater. Even as he pushed against the boy's keyblade sparks flew in all directions, and slowly and surely Riku's legs were sinking into the cold dark ground. Redtorch smacked the boy to the ground and stood over the boy as he collapsed to the ground. He then knocked away his Soul Eater and his own fake version of the Sword of Darkness, held his double sided axe over Riku ready to make the finishing blow.

But before Redtorch could go through with his devious plan, he felt rocks getting thrown at him. He turned around and used his double sided axe to block the whiplash and hoard of people as they rushed at him with everything they had. Some brought out some rifles to aim and shoot at him, others brought out wooden swords and whacked him hard across his body. Even as Redtorch smacked all the innocent kids and elderly away from his sight, many kept throwing themselves at him. Riku then stood up, slightly beat up and exhausted because of the energy needed to fight such a beast. Likewise against Lexaeus in Castle Oblivion, it would seem only his darkness could settle this fight.

Thus with everything he had charged all of his power into his Sword of Darkness and yelled at everyone attacking Redtorch, "Everyone get down!! This baby's gonna blow."

At the last moment or two, many of the people stood down at Redtorch in a state of shock held his axe like weapon out as a shield to protect him from the oncoming blast. Riku then let out a loud cry as his body was covered in darkness and his sword took in every last ounce of what he offered to it.

Redtorch closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable and thought to himself, "Forgive me Pyros, Sirion. I have failed both of you. Clearly this fight was underestimated by me." Then a cyclone like blast of dark energy flowed out of the Sword of Darkness, shattering it to pieces because of its strength and enveloping Redtorch and his double sided axe in the process. First his weapon disintegrated to dust and then slowly Redtorch began to disintegrate to pieces and in a flash it seemed like nothing remained. The one thing that did remain was his heart that flew up into the sky and disappeared into the shadows: a fitting end for such a warrior. Even as it happened, Riku fell to his knees and then collapsed unconscious.

(Next Time: Recovery.)


	60. Chapter 59

Recovery

Slowly, after hearing strange fuzzy noises and sounds, an unconscious Riku began to reopen his eyes, drifting in and out as he heard a single voice talk to him. It was loud and hard to make out, but slowly as he came to heard it more clearly and precisely.

Mickey was standing next to his bed in a tent with hospitable equipment and then some keeping him breathing and alive. Riku looked to his left and saw Mike and then to his right was Mickey jumping for joy as the boy was alive and well.

Mike then said, "You gave us quite a scare. All that power you used was an eye opener. Not only did it destroy your replica version of my sword, but it also destroyed Redtorch and his weapon in a single strike."

Riku stood up slowly as Mickey then rushed to sit him down again. "You really shouldn't be up and about you know. You were out for quite a while and could use the time to get better.", Mickey said.

Riku then asked, "How long was I out for?"

"It's been over three days. We were afraid you'd never wake up. Mike was even scared about how Sora would've felt if he had to tell him you were in a coma.", Mickey continued.

Riku shook his head and said, "I'm sorry about all this. I guess I didn't think clearly when I was fighting. I hope those people are all okay."

Mike then said, "Some of them got beat up pretty bad and one man broke his left hip, but other than that everyone's fine. That said, Mickey's right. We're better off staying put for now. Yes it puts my plan into a jam, but there's not a lot we can do right now anyway. Pyros has all, but disappeared off the map."

Indeed all was quiet. Mike went outside to reassure the people no harm was done and Riku was going to be fine, but surprisingly what Mike had noticed was all the people were beginning to pack up and leave.

Mike asked Tarak, "Say Tarak, what's all the commotion about?"

"We're taking your advice of course and fighting for our cause my boy. We're going to travel abroad and see if we can't round up some followers. Who knows? Some of them may be as crazy as you are to take on a guy like Pyros.", Tarak continued.

Mike smiled as this happened and with confidence watched as they made their way to robotic jets and planes, all of which were capable of flying above worlds and planets and soaring across time and space if necessary. This would be the last time Mike would see of Tarak for now. So for the next couple of hours or so he just kept writing to Cpt. Varrot inquiring about his little brother Victor and even Chris who even now at this moment was already at the Eternal Beyond. It would seem that his youngest sibling along with Kairi, Luigi and Goofy narrowly escaped the clutches of a giant spider after getting captured by it.

All the while, Riku rested and slept to gain back his energy. Yet even as this occurred a group of heartless appeared just before his bed catching Mickey's attention. He then summoned his keyblade and his replica version of the Sword of Balance to fight these creatures, eventually catching the attention of Mike, hard at work on his laptop spreading word of his plan to capture Pyros.

Mike as well took out his Sword of Darkness and transformed into his black suited armor. He entered inside the tent to find that Mickey needed no help at all. He demorphed out of his armor and retracted his Sword of Darkness to his side once more.

Mike then asked Mickey, "What on earth happened?"

"For a brief moment, heartless started showing up and there was a strange breeze that appeared and disappeared all the same in manner. A weird voice was calling for you and then they just got scared.", Mickey responded.

Mike then asked, "But who do I know would be here of all places?"

Mickey then sighed as he said this and at first didn't know how to come out with his response.

Then he said, "I don't know how to tell you this Mike, but the voice I heard was someone you would know personally."

Riku awakened listening to the conversation as Mike asked, "Well who is it?"

Mickey closed his eyes and then said, "It was your father, Alan."

Mike gasped as he heard this and said, "No. That's not possible. He died twelve years ago of pneumonia alongside my mother. It was the same day we all just got to scrounging on the streets and then adopted by people of all walks of life. Because of his death I was able to get stronger and become who I am. Why here and now is his voice echoing?"

Mickey shook his head and sighed sadly as Riku listened keenly and heard a similar voice. This time it was a female voice calling out Mike's full name: Michael. Riku said, "You guys better listen up. There it is again."

Mike and Mickey listened in as they heard a female voice aloud.

Mike fell to his knees hearing this saying, "Mom…" and even Mickey was at a loss for words as he fell to his knees as well.

He then uttered, "Nadia…"

Before Mike and Mickey knew it, a flash of light appeared from behind them. From within their dark hospital tent and next to a bunch of equipment two figures formed from this light.

A tall, brunette man with green eyes in a tree bark beige suit, cape and boots stood before him holding a large Excalibur like sword and next to him a light haired brunette girl also with green eyes and button nose in a rose colored suit, cape and boots stood holding a similar weapon, but it was much smaller and more agile.

Mickey out of great fear, asked, "Alan…Nadia… is that… really you?"

Alan then said from under his caterpillar mustache covering his nose, "We don't have much time."

(Next Time: Together Again.)


	61. Chapter 60

Together Again

It was a great surprise for Mike to see his parents. He could only imagine what Victor and Chris would say in his position if they found out. Alan and Nadia smiled with such confidence looking upon their eldest son.

"My, such a brave young son we have. I cannot remember the last time we looked at you with such great hope Michael.", Alan said.

Mike arose and saw the light disappear from them and walked closer to them. He touched his father's tree bark beige suit. He could feel his heartbeat and his eyes lit up. Both of his parents hugged him as hard as they could. Even as this occurred, Mickey and Riku stood up, both befuddled and both bewildered. But even so, they smiled at this happy reunion.

"I grew up so fast. I went through many happy moments with my Master Eddie and even Vic and Chris. I wished you could have been there with me.", Mike said as calm as he could.

Nadia smiled and giggled a little at her son's wishful thinking.

"But even so, you've grown up into a handsome young man. Clearly you got your Grandfather John's hair and your father's eyes.", Nadia said.

Mike smiled and brushed off his emotions simply clearing his throat and composing himself.

"So what seems to be troubling you all?", Mike asked.

"It's Victor. We've seen some disturbing news of him already fighting Torahne. We'll have to act fast in order to stop Pyros and Sirion.", Alan stated.

"We were just about to leave as well, but of course my friend Riku…", Mike started and looked to Riku sitting on the hospital bed.

Riku smiled while waving to them and Mike continued.

"…well we couldn't just leave him behind. I hoped that Victor probably would be the one to bring you back, but it would seem you both came back because of me didn't you?", Mike asked.

They both nodded. Each of his parents smiled and looked at each other with great confidence.

"We came back because you destroyed Oben or Obeion as we knew him. When you destroyed him, some of his energy containing our life force was released and dispersed. Slowly they retook the form of our bodies and our spirits transported themselves to become one again. We've been training ever since then for the day when we would reunite with you and your brothers.", Alan stated.

"I don't know what to say at a time like this. It really is impressive that you and Nadia could return though, Alan.", Mickey said.

Both of Mike's parents smiled looking upon an old friend once again.

"It's been a long time Mickey. You look like you've been in great shape. I wish I could say the same. I think I might have gained some weight.", Alan stated.

Everyone in the tent just laughed as he said this statement, when clearly both Nadia and Alan were thin as could be.

Mike then stated turning his head away, "Oh how I wish I could have done something though way back when. I was so young when it happened. Chris was barely even three years old when you both left our lives. I felt so helpless." Yet even as Mike said this he felt a gentle hand touch his right cheek. When he turned he saw his mother smiling and closing her eyes. She was the one touching his gentle cheek.

"You mustn't be so hard on yourself son. You didn't know what would happen to us. But thanks to you closing off the keyhole to the Keyblade Graveyard, we've come back. You've done so much for your younger siblings and never did anything selfish. You were always brave and strong, but concerned about everyone you cared for. Now we'll help you in your time of need.", Nadia said.

Mike smiled as she said this and summoned his armour. He withdrew his Sword of Darkness, ready for battle.

"Very well. I hope that you can relinquish the Squadron's hold over worlds as we've tried to. These guys are very quick on their feet and impossible to predict what they'll do. I can only hope Chris has put Phases 3 and 4 of my plan into action. Now the only thing that remains is getting Torahne back to our side and then we can put things into motion.", Mike stated.

Alan and Nadia agreed and then summoned a large brown portal, heading off. Before they did leave Alan hugged Mike and told him to be careful. Nadia in kind hugged her eldest son and told him to not let his emotions get the better of him. The portal then quickly shut closed.

Without much else left to say Riku and Mickey summoned the Soul Eater and the Kingdom key along with the replica of the Sword of Balance.

Mike then said, "Prepare yourselves my friends. We have a lot of work to do before we can officially leave this place. It will take a maximum of a week to accomplish, but at least once this is done, the Squadron will be severely crippled. After that, it will be a matter of taking the fight to the Eternal Beyond to finish this nonsense. So are you with me?"

Mickey and the Riku nodded together after a brief pause. They then walked off with Mike outside of the tent and gathered up as much supplies as they needed. The last of the Tarmans had left, so it was only them and the rest of the Soulless to deal with on this world. Redtorch though was just the tip of the iceberg to deal with in this place. Another man awaited for their arrival, once they reached the surface of the Keyblade Graveyard. The turning point in this fight would come not from power and strength alone, but an old power that Mike remembered when becoming a Legend Master.

(Next Time: Preparations.)


	62. Chapter 61

Preparations

Day one: Michael and co. finally left the caverns and the rocky city of 'Rock Bottom' up towards the surface where their journey first began. It was from there Michael explained that they would spend a week of solid training using some of their own methods of fighting as well as methods Mike himself used over the years. He could summon Heartless and Nobodies without fear of being corrupted by the darkness because not only did his armor grant him protection against the Corridors of Darkness, but he also cleanse his mind at will so that he was not left vulnerable to its charms/delights. Michael had already begun some training excercises to awaken an old power that he remembered learning as a teen and later in life using against Oben with his younger siblings when they once squared off on the Eternal Beyond. He sliced boulders as large as skyscrapers into mere pieces. Being the eldest he was used to fighting under pressure and could perform amazing acrobatics when the time was right. To credit his great power though as being enough to finish the Squadron would be a mistake though.

Even now, his enemies were preparing themselves for what could be a battle to finish all battles. As Mickey took a short nap in Mike's tent, Riku practiced once again using his Soul Eater in a different way than what he was used to. For instance, rather than just simply attacking his enemies, he followed Mike's advice and performed attacks that he personally learned to use when he was a boy. Michael would summon Heartless for Riku to practice on and would propel his enemies high into the air where he could slice many of them in half, jab them in the stomach with his hands and then elbow them down into a large cliffside, and finally jump over/slide underneath the Heartless and slash at their backs from behind.

As Riku was finishing his training, he came upon Mike just standing in plain silence. The young man had his black armor on and he looked as if he could destroy a whole planet with his fighting stance. His sword was high above his head and his body began to glow in the form of a black aura. He was also chanting a little spell that he recalled his old master teaching him to use when recalling old memories to his brain.

Simply put the spell was:

"_Oh memories that are long since past, please grant me your knowledge and wisdom so that I can use them for good and justice. Grant me your power, so that regardless of the need or urgency of the situation, I can use these powers to aid my friends and family."_

Riku asked, "Are you okay Mike?"

Mike lowered his weapon and put it back into its sheath. The black aura also dispersed as demorphed out of his black armor in a bright light.

Mike then said, "Oh, it's alright Riku. I'm doing alright. I figured since we do have a week to stay and train ourselves, I would try and remember moves I learned as a boy."

Riku replied, "So you forgot?"

Mike turned to face his comrade and after all his hard work, Riku could see the hardwork he had been doing since dawn. The man's face was sweating and he was panting a little.

Riku then said, "Oh no! We better get you some water. I'll go wake Mickey up and-"

"There's no need Riku. It may be hard to believe, but I really am not exhausted at all.", Mike interrupted.

Riku looked at Mike as if he was on drugs and carefully looked at his body. The rest of his body looked like it was in peak shape, yet when looking upon his face, there was clearly signs of hard work and physical effects from the training they were undergoing.

"You must got some weird training then if you say you aren't at all exhausted. Your body looks like you didn't do anything at all, but your face is dripping wet. It's almost as if you caught a cold.", Riku said.

"It is strange I know, but it actually is a spell my master, Edward van Colonel the 3rd, taught me when I was only just twelve. The basic gist is that obviously as we age, we tend to forget stuff. So over the centuries, many Legend Masters devised a way of recalling memories back into the brain so that you could prepare for long conflicts in life. In this case I plan to use this to recall an old power I used to fight with when I first became a Legend Master.", Mike said.

As Riku sat down on a large rock and listened, Mike explained that many people in the universe were of course born as either one of the following fighter: a Legend Knight, an Imagination Knight, or an Ability Knight. There were also four ranks that each type of fighter were born as or could become overtime: a Knight, a Master, Grand Master and finally Eternal Master. Michael also explained to his comrade that as people were different from each other in many ways, so too were Legend fighters, Imagination fighters and Ability fighters different. They each could perform many different combinations of attacks or abilities unique to their personality and individuality. The catch of course is that each warrior could only really have a total of four specific powers though and no more than that. What really caught Riku's attention was the fact that a Legend Master made use of powers coming from his/her soul itself and so because of the intense training, Michael appeared to be sweating because his body was unable to keep up with his soul and the vast power it contained.

"Unfortunately, after my brothers and I beat Oben, we just went our separate ways back on Earth and lived life as normal humans again. There was no real threat from enemies, except maybe the annual psychopath and a bunch of miscellanous crimes such as robberies or a hostage situation. Thus overtime from 2008 until now, we had no need to use our old powers and so we simply forgot how.", Mike said.

Riku then asked, "I don't think I fully understand. What powers are you talking about?"

Mike then snapped his fingers and disappeared. At first Riku could not make out what happened. Then moments later, the boy came from a black portal.

"Hi, did you miss me?", Mike asked with a clever grin on his face.

"Where on the Keyblade Graveyard did you go?", Riku asked.

"I travelled across ten different galaxies to Mars and back again to this precise location again in just 15 seconds.", Mike said.

Riku's eyes almost looked as if they were about to fall out of his skull when he heard this.

"This is one of my four total allowed powers as a Legend Master, or rather as a Legend Eternal Master. I can manipulate Space itself and arrive at any location I desire with 100% accuracy and precision. You can kind of think of it as like the Corridors of Darkness that the Heartless use to get from place to place, but in this case I am well protected against such corrupt powers because I am from a different galaxy. In other words I can't technically even become a Heartless let alone a Nobody."

Riku shook his head in amazement and couldn't help, but just smile.

"Such power. Can you tell me what your other three powers are if I may ask?", Riku asked.

"Well since you asked...", Mike began.

He then snapped his fingers and grabbed a hold of Riku. The clouds in the sky began to move backwards and Riku saw himself training just hours earlier. He then saw himself toss a Neoshadow Heartless into the air and elbow the little fellow towards a five giant Twilight Thorns. All of the enemies were destroyed in a matter of seconds. Riku then saw himself perform a double flip in mid-air and land with his left hand smacking the ground and his right leg kneeling as he completed his moves.

"Hey I remember that. I took those guys down like 2 hours ago. I never realised how effective this training was.", Riku said.

Mike smiled as Riku said this.

"You bet it is my friend. Look there...", Mike said.

Mike showed Riku what looked like Mike himself in the same stance Riku saw him earlier performing the same chant and the same spell as before.

"For you see, we have actually travelled back in time.", Mike said.

"You...can manipulate Time and Space?", Riku asked.

Mike laughed a little as he said this and patted his back to give him reassurance.

"Oh yes, I definitley can manipulate Time and Space. Much like in the movie **"Back to the Future", **I can actually change the outcome of history itself too...well to a certain extent of course.", Mike replied with both confidence and later disappointment.

"There's a limit to your power?", Riku asked.

"Oh yeah. You see, I can travel anywhere into the past, present and the future. I can do whatever I want, so long as it remains in good intentions and so that there isn't a time paradox. Basically, I cannot bring people back to life and I can't use this power for gambling or profit gain. It's a weird rule I was told as a little kid, but it has kept peace in the universe.", Mike said.

Mike then snapped his fingers and the went forward 2 hours to where they were before.

Mike then snapped his fingers again. Just as this occurred Mickey stepped outside, waking up and yawning after a peaceful nap.

"Hello...is somebody there?", Mickey asked.

Riku and Mike were only four feet away from Mickey and the tent, yet the mouse could not see nor hear the boys at all.

Riku then asked Mike, "Can't he see us?"

"This is my 3rd special power and one of my unique abilities: Camouflage. We can hear and see anyone in the exact place we are in, but they can't hear nor see us. This power can come in handy very easily during stealth missions.", Mike said.

Riku closed his eyes and sighed.

Then he said, "Boy, you guys really have some unique abilities, huh?"

Mike then said, "It takes time to master though. Believe me, not many people become a Legend Eternal Master my friend. It takes and ages to become one. As far as I know, I am the youngest being alive to have ever become a Legend Eternal Master. Not even my own father has become one yet and he's in his late 40s."

They then reappeared in front of Mickey, much to his surpise. The Mouse King of Disney Castle jumped four feet into the air the second they took form.

"Boy, you guys sure know spook a fella. I heard someone talking, woke up and went outside, but no one was there. Then all of a sudden I see you two reappear in front of me." Mickey said.

The chuckled a bit at this display, but then it passed as Mike explained his final power as a Legend Eternal Master.

"My laster power is Invincibility itself. For a short period between 15 minutes and a half an hour, I can pass through some of the toughest enemy offenses imaginable. Not even bullets, arrows or even physical attacks can penetrate my body's shield unless I physically call the power back to my soul. Observe.", Mike said.

Within moments, the boy summoned a large blue orb around his body and it extended about five feet in all directions from his body's location.

"Go ahead toss something at me. I guarantee nothing will happen to me.", Mike said.

So going for broke, Mickey tossed a small rock at Mike and the rock instantly vaporized within seconds to ash.

Both Mickey and Riku gasped at this display and looked at each other when this occured. They then looked back at Mike who could only smile and laugh confidently at remembering his old powers.

"It's been three years since I got to use these powers again, but it sure feels good that I have a chance to put my powers to the test once more.", Mike said.

Yet even as Michael got Mickey up to speed on the information he told Riku, a man in a yellow hooded suit looked on watching them from a cliffside just twenty feet above their current location.

He then thought to himself, "Go on you fools. Train to your hearts desires. You haven't even seen the full power of the Squadron yet. Just you wait...just you wait."

(Who could this mysterious man be? You will just have to wait and see for yourself my dear fans. It is great to be back again, after on again off again situations with school and all. I hope to complete this story as soon as I possibly can though. Stay tuned, this story just got moved into hypermode.

(Next Time: Mickey vs Solias.)


End file.
